Differentially expressed genes in oral cells

PLEASE NOTE: This work is protected by copyright. Downloading is restricted to the BU community: please click Download and log in with a valid BU account to access. If you are the author of this work and would like to make it publicly available, please contact open-help@bu.edu.Thesis (MSD) --Boston University, Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, 2009 (Department of Periodontology).Includes bibliographic references: leaves 71-96.Saliva is a complex fluid that performs several functions such as cleansing of oral surfaces, buffering of acids, initation of digestion, solubilization of food and oral host defense. It is well recognized that these functions are performed by proteins and peptides in saliva. Source of these proteins include the salivary glands, the gingiva, the oral epithelial cells, the microflora and the bronchial and nasal secretions. In the past several years, a large number of proteins have been identified in saliva using proteomic techniques, however, these studies have not revealed their site of origin. The aim of this study was to characterize the expression pattern of salivary protein genes and identify those differentially expressed in human submandibular and sublingual glands and gingival epithelium, using Gene Fishing (ACP)technology. Gene Fishing technology is a new approach designed to identify differentially expressed genes in two or more samples using a highly specific PCR amplification step. Our results have identified several differentially expressed genes. Some of these such as small proline-rich protein 3, transglutaminase, histatins are well-known salivary proteins while others, such as proteosome/macropain had not yet been detected by studies using whole saliva proteomics. We conclude that Gene Fishing technology is a useful adjunct to proteomic approaches to fully characterize the full complement of proteins in salivary secretions