Salivary gland tissue chip screening identifies candidate radioprotective drugs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Most head and neck cancer patients treated with ionizing radiation loose salivary gland function. Patients with decreased saliva have trouble eating, speaking and are predisposed to oral infections and tooth decay. Amifostine is the only FDA approved drug to prevent radiation-induced hyposalivation. However, it has intolerable side-effects that limit its use, motivating the discovery of alternative therapeutics.

Methods

We leveraged our salivary gland tissue chip platform for high-content drug discovery that we developed using submandibular gland tissue from female SKH1 hairless mice, backcrossed 6 generations with C57BL/6 J mice. We developed in-chip assays to quantify reduced glutathione and cellular senescence, which are accepted biomarkers of radiation damage.

SUBMITTER: Piraino LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12511423 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature