# Oral-piRNAs Enhance Re-epithelialization in Oral Wound Healing

> **NIH NIH F30** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $22,872

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Millions of patients suffer from delayed wound healing stem from systemic diseases or external traumas, which
can result in a loss of skin integrity, disability, and even death. An important aspect of healing is re-
epithelialization that entails both proliferation and migration of keratinocytes at the periphery of the wound. When
re-epithelialization is not achieved in a timely fashion, patients suffer from delayed wound healing. Understanding
the role and function of keratinocytes in re-epithelialization will be of benefit to these patients. Oral wounds exhibit
accelerated re-epithelialization when compared to equivalently sized skin wounds. Our laboratory recently
identified a previously unnoticed landscape of non-coding RNA in saliva. Of particularly interests are three
distinctive oral-piwi-interacting RNAs (oral-piRNAs) that are uniquely present in saliva and oral keratinocytes and
appear to contribute to the oral wound re-epitheliazation phenotype. The applicant performed studies including
in vitro scratch assays that demonstrated a continual increase of oral-piRNA expressions post wounding in
human oral keratinocyte and not in skin keratinocytes. Furthermore, independent knockdown of these oral-
piRNAs in the human oral wound scratch assay resulted in the significant delay and failure of oral wound closure.
The overarching hypothesis of this proposal is that oral-piRNAs are intrinsic factors in human oral keratinocytes
modulating the rapidity of wound closure. Based on the preliminary data, the applicant aims to validate the role
of oral-piRNAs in oral wound healing in a 3D ex-vivo oral mucosal wound healing model in Aim 1 and then follow
by elucidating the cellular and genetic factors responsible for the oral-piRNA mediated oral wound healing
phenotypes, including epithelial migration and proliferation in Aim 2. By understanding oral-piRNA roles in normal
oral wound healing, we can identify differences in skin wound healing regulation and alterations in delayed
healing wounds. As we unravel how oral-piRNAs modulate human oral keratinocyte proliferation and migration,
we may improve wound healing therapeutic developments. The long-term goals of this proposal are to advance
the biological understanding and functions of piRNA relevant to human oral health and diseases and use the
findings to benefit wound healing in patients.
This F30 fellowship will prepare the trainee for an academic career to become an independent researcher in oral
wound healing and piwi-interacting RNA biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10149158
- **Project number:** 5F30DE027615-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Samantha Hsin-Yu Chiang
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $22,872
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2021-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10149158

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10149158, Oral-piRNAs Enhance Re-epithelialization in Oral Wound Healing (5F30DE027615-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10149158. Licensed CC0.

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