Abstract
Purpose :
Study of human lacrimal gland biology is limited by poor access to normal tissue and has lagged behind other areas of study. Understanding of developmentally critical genes is important in the creation of cell based therapies. Many cell based therapy strategies rely on directed differentiation of stem cells into adult tissue types using induction of developmental genes. Evaluation of the differences and similarities among embryologically related tissue types may yield a starting point for the elucidation of critical genes and signaling pathways in the development of lacrimal gland.
Methods :
We performed global gene expression analysis of human lacrimal gland tissue using Affymetrix ® gene expression arrays. Primary data from our laboratory was compared with datasets available in the NLM GEO database for other surface ectodermal tissues including salivary gland, skin, conjunctiva and corneal epithelium.
Results :
Our analysis revealed statistically significant differences in the expression of numerous genes and signaling pathways in lacrimal gland tissue compared to other ectodermal tissues. The lacrimal gland specific, cell surface secretory protein encoding genes and critical signaling pathways which distinguish lacrimal gland from other ectodermal tissues are described.
Conclusions :
Comparison of gene expression in human lacrimal gland compared with other surface ectodermal tissue types revealed interesting patterns which may serve as the basis for future studies in directed differentiation.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.