Salivary Gland Development in Culture

Marcia Gaete*, Tathyane H.N. Teshima, Lemonia Chatzeli, Abigail S. Tucker

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Salivary glands are branching organs which develop by bud and cleft formation to create an organ with a large surface area. The epithelium and mesenchyme signal back and forth to control this branching process, with additional cues provided by the parasympathetic nerves and blood vessels that surround the developing branches. This branching morphogenesis can be recapitulated successfully in organ culture, allowing access to the tissue to follow development and manipulate the tissue interactions, and signals. To culture glands, the filter-grid method has been widely used, allowing the development of salivary glands cultured as a whole organ, or the gland epithelium in isolation, or with the surrounding craniofacial tissue in a cranial slice. Here, we describe the methods for each approach and show the applicability of culturing glands from a wide variety of species: mouse, snake, and human. The resulting samples and data from these cultures can be employed for morphological and molecular analysis, with some examples described in this chapter, bringing valuable knowledge to our understanding of branching morphogenesis.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMethods in Molecular Biology
PublisherHumana Press Inc
Pages277-294
Number of pages18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Publication series

NameMethods in Molecular Biology
Volume2403
ISSN (Print)1064-3745
ISSN (Electronic)1940-6029

Keywords

  • Branching morphogenesis
  • Clefting
  • Human organ culture
  • Salivary gland
  • Snake organ culture

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