Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:We applied side population (SP) cells transfer to recover hypofunction in lacrimal glands due to Stevens–Johnson syndrome and Sjogren’s syndrome. Methods:SP cells were purified from lacrimal glands in heterozygous EGFP transgenic (GFP–Tg) mice with a C57BL/6 background. The cells were injected directly into lacrimal glands with hypofunction by irradiation. Subsequently, tear secretion in mice was measured by the cotton thread test and mice were sacrificed to detect GFP–positive cells. Furthermore, we used DNA microarray to identify specific genes in SP cells. Results:Tear secretion was recovered in SP cells–transplanted mice as compared with control mice one month after transplantation. GFP–positive cells were found in the lacrimal glands of recipient mice, but the cells were localized sparsely. Therefore, we could not ignore the possibility that the secretory function of residual cells was activated through soluble factors secreted by SP cells and we examined the functions of candidate genes identified by DNA microarray. Conclusions:Our data therefore suggested that SP cells transfer was able to recover the secretory function in damaged glands.