Nguyen Lan Thi Phuong, Kim Joo Hyun, Son Jiwon, Hur Sung Sik, Lee Minyong, Byeon Hyung Kwon, Kim Jin-Young, Ban Myung Jin, Kim Joo Hyun, Lee Man Ryul, Park Jae Hong, Hwang Yongsung
Soonchunhyang Institute of Medi-Bio Science (SIMS), Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan 31151, Republic of Korea.
Department of Integrated Biomedical Science, Soonchunhyang University, Asan 31538, Republic of Korea.
Life (Basel). 2025 Apr 5;15(4):607. doi: 10.3390/life15040607.
Three-dimensional (3D) spheroid cultures are crucial for modeling salivary gland (SG) morphogenesis and advancing regenerative medicine. This study evaluated the effects of varying ratios of mouse SG-derived epithelial cells co-cultured with human dermal fibroblasts (hDFs), identifying a 2:1 ratio (spheroids containing 67% EpCAM cells with 33% hDFs) as optimal for preserving native SG-derived epithelial cell phenotypes. At this ratio, 67% EpCAM spheroids maintained structural integrity and demonstrated a significant reduction in apoptosis and senescence markers, specifically, cleaved caspase-3 (Cc3) and Serpine1, alongside an enhanced expression of the progenitor marker Keratin 5 (KRT5). This highlights the pivotal role of fibroblasts in supporting epithelial cell function in 3D cultures. These spheroids provide a useful model for developing SG tissues that closely mimic physiological properties. Despite promising results, these findings are preliminary and require further validation under diverse conditions and across different SG models.
三维（3D）球体培养对于唾液腺（SG）形态发生建模和推进再生医学至关重要。本研究评估了小鼠SG来源的上皮细胞与人真皮成纤维细胞（hDFs）以不同比例共培养的效果，确定2:1的比例（球体含有67%的EpCAM细胞和33%的hDFs）最适合保留天然SG来源的上皮细胞表型。在此比例下，67% EpCAM球体保持结构完整性，并显示凋亡和衰老标志物（特别是裂解的半胱天冬酶-3（Cc3）和丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂1）显著减少，同时祖细胞标志物角蛋白5（KRT5）的表达增强。这突出了成纤维细胞在支持3D培养中上皮细胞功能方面的关键作用。这些球体为开发紧密模拟生理特性的SG组织提供了有用的模型。尽管结果很有前景，但这些发现是初步的，需要在不同条件下和不同SG模型中进一步验证。
