PIEZO1 activation may serve as an early tissue biomarker for the prediction of irradiation-induced salivary gland dysfunction

초록

Irradiation (IR)-induced xerostomia is the most common side effect of radiation therapy in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Xerostomia diagnosis is mainly based on the patient ' s medical history and symptoms. Currently, no direct biomarkers are available for the early prediction of IR-induced xerostomia. Here, we identified PIEZO1 as a novel predictive tissue biomarker for xerostomia. Our data demonstrate that PIEZO1 is significantly upregulated at the gene and protein levels during IR-induced salivary gland (SG) hypofunction. Notably, PIEZO1 upregulation coincided with that of inflammatory (F4/80) and fibrotic markers (fibronectin and collagen fibers accumulation). These findings suggest that PIEZO1 upregulation in SG tissue may serve as a novel predictive marker for IR-induced xerostomia.

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