Presentation Details
| Taste-associated Lingual Salivary Gland Ducts Participate in Mucosal Immune-Surveillance Abdul Hamid Siddiqui, Salin Raj Palayyan, Sunil K.Sukumaran. Nutrition and Health Sciences Department, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA |
Abstract
The oral cavity is a major portal for microbial entry, and the oral microbiome is among the most diverse microbial ecosystems in the body, second only to the gut. While salivary secretions provide a key antimicrobial barrier via enzymes such as lysozyme, the epithelial structures that deliver these secretions may also contribute directly to mucosal defense. The von-Ebner’s gland (VEG), a relatively less studied lingual minor salivary gland, drains into the circumvallate papillae through dedicated ductal networks. Salivary and lachrymal ducts are known to function as immune-surveillance sites, and the VEG ducts, located at the interface between the taste buds and the underlying secretory and immune compartments are uniquely positioned to fulfil this role. Using single-cell RNA sequencing of murine taste papillae, we identified a distinct duct cell gene expression program characterized by expression of immune-surveillance pathways for microbial sampling such as phagocytosis and transcytosis, first identified in microfold cells in the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues. The expression of genes involved in these pathways was confirmed using RNAscope and immunohistochemistry, and the ability of duct cells to transcytose microbes was demonstrated using fluorescently labelled E.coli. Collectively, these findings support a model in which VEG ducts are not passive channels but specialized epithelial sentinels that may sample the luminal content and contribute to mucosal immunity within the circumvallate papillae microenvironment. Defining duct-mediated immune surveillance mechanisms may reshape our understanding of oral mucosal defense and reveal new epithelial targets for modulating host microbe interactions in the oral cavity.
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