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The Role of Autophagy in Radiation Induced Salivary Gland Dysfunction
Author(s) -
Morgan Maria
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.649.9
Subject(s) - autophagy , salivary gland , programmed cell death , cancer research , apoptosis , dram , microbiology and biotechnology , downregulation and upregulation , cell , biology , salivary gland cancer , radiation therapy , medicine , biochemistry , gene , materials science , optoelectronics
Radiation of the head and neck region for cancer treatment causes salivary gland dysfunction. Autophagy is a “nutrient sensing” mechanism within cells that is upregulated during times of stress that is a cell survival mechanism, it may prove beneficial in salivary gland function. The objective is to determine the role of autophagy in salivary gland function following radiation. We use Aqp5‐Cre mice that allow us to specifically impair autophagy in the salivary acinar cell. Autophagy deficient mice have higher levels of cell death after radiation. This shows that autophagy may be necessary for acinar cell survival after radiation. DRAM increased after radiation in a p53 dependent manner. There is no DRAM expression in autophagy deficient mice showing DRAM may be correlated with induction of autophagy. This is critical because it is unknown whether DRAM acts in induction of autophagy or apoptosis. Current studies are focusing on salivary gland function of autophagy deficient mice after radiation. This knowledge will help us prepare therapies for those suffering from side effects of radiotherapy and greatly improve their quality of life while decreasing their financial burden. Grant Funding Source : RC1DE020335