| First Author | Metzler MA | Year | 2018 |
| Journal | Development | Volume | 145 |
| Issue | 15 | PubMed ID | 29986869 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:266575 | Mgi Id | MGI:6220810 |
| Doi | 10.1242/dev.164822 | Citation | Metzler MA, et al. (2018) RDH10-mediated retinol metabolism and RARalpha-mediated retinoic acid signaling are required for submandibular salivary gland initiation. Development 145(15):dev164822 |
| abstractText | In mammals, the epithelial tissues of major salivary glands generate saliva and drain it into the oral cavity. For submandibular salivary glands (SMGs), the epithelial tissues arise during embryogenesis from naive oral ectoderm adjacent to the base of the tongue, which begins to thicken, express SOX9 and invaginate into underlying mesenchyme. The developmental mechanisms initiating salivary gland development remain unexplored. In this study, we show that retinoic acid (RA) signaling activity at the site of gland initiation is colocalized with expression of retinol metabolic genes Rdh10 and Aldh1a2 in the underlying SMG mesenchyme. Utilizing a novel ex vivo assay for SMG initiation developed for this study, we show that RDH10 and RA are required for salivary gland initiation. Moreover, we show that the requirement for RA in gland initiation involves canonical signaling through retinoic acid receptors (RAR). Finally, we show that RA signaling essential for gland initiation is transduced specifically through RARalpha, with no contribution from other RAR isoforms. This is the first study to identify a molecular signal regulating mammalian salivary gland initiation. |
