Objective: Undifferentiated cells play pivotal roles in sustaining tissue homeostasis during physiological turnovers and after tissue impairment. Nestin and Neuron-glial antigen 2 (NG2) are markers frequently deployed to distinguish progenitor populations. In the salivary gland scenario, these markers remain largely unknown. Particularly for a double-labeled group of progenitor cells (NG2+Nestin+), their phenotype and distribution have never been explored in freshly isolated tissues. Herein, we analyzed a subset of plastic cells that express Nestin and NG2 near the ducts and in the periacinar region of the major salivary glands of murine samples.
Design: The major salivary glands tissues of Nestin-GFP/NG2-DsRed mice were analyzed under a fluorescence microscope. The cells marked by GFP and DsRed were counted in the merged image component of random representative images obtained for each gland sample at × 20 magnification.
Results: In the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands, the population of cells exclusively expressing Nestin was more abundant. There was a predominance of Nestin, NG2, and double-labeled cells in the submandibular gland compared to the parotid gland, mainly near the ductal system. Of note, the sublingual and parotid glands had similar populations of Nestin+ and NG2+, especially in acini, and some positive cells were observed surrounding ducts.
Conclusions: Collectively, our study revealed differential expression patterns of Nestin and NG2, alone or in combination, in the salivary gland subset during homeostasis.
Keywords: Nestin; Neuron-glial antigen 2; Salivary glandParotid gland; Stem cell; Sublingual glandSubmandibular gland.
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