# Breaching the Epithelial Lining for Effective Salivary Gland Stem Cell Delivery in Clinical-Relevant Settings

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $232,281

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The quality of life of over half a million surviving head-and-neck cancer patients is drastically decreased due to
co-irradiation of healthy saliva-secreting salivary glands. Current treatment of irradiation-induced xerostomia, a
condition that results in hyposalivation or dry mouth, is limited. Therapies are largely ineffective or solely
provide temporary relief; enforcing the need to implement new treatments to long-term restore hyposalivation.
Only a few strategies to date have been proposed and validated in vivo. In a mouse model, successful long-
term repair of irradiated salivary glands was obtained by a surgical intra-glandular injection of stem cells. For
human patients, we propose to deliver cells via a non-surgical retrograde ductal infusion. In this procedure,
cells are directly infused into salivary glands through the main duct that drains saliva into the oral cavity. Here,
we initiate the technical translation of stem cell transplantation to regenerate irradiated salivary glands. Based
on existing evidence using this technique in a higher animal model, we determined that additional efforts are
necessary to consistently deliver a large number of cells into the parenchyma of irradiated glands. We
hypothesize that mechanical forces aid in breaching the epithelial lining of the parenchyma. To test this,
various pressure-related conditions will be used to efficiently and locally deliver cells into the tissue. These
studies will facilitate successful delivery of stem cells into irradiated glands, and expedite the clinical translation
of stem cell-based transplantations to repair xerostomia in surviving head-and-neck cancer patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9864057
- **Project number:** 5R21DE028690-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Isabelle M.A. Lombaert
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $232,281
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9864057

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9864057, Breaching the Epithelial Lining for Effective Salivary Gland Stem Cell Delivery in Clinical-Relevant Settings (5R21DE028690-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9864057. Licensed CC0.

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