Project Grant R00DE032363
- This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121), aims to elucidate how immune cells, specifically tissue-resident macrophages, regulate the coordinated processes of salivary gland epithelial cell development and differentiation. The $628,965 award to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will leverage expertise in salivary gland biology, progenitor cell dynamics, and...
- This federal Project Grant award of $644,970.00 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121), supports a research project to investigate immune-epithelial interactions and their impact on restoring salivary gland function after radiation therapy. The long-term goal is to develop mechanisms for restoring salivary gland function in head and neck cancer patients who suffer from chronic xerostomia (dry...
- This Project Grant award, titled "Defining the Role of Tissue-Resident Macrophages During Salivary Gland Morphogenesis", was provided by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121). The $100,676 award to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will fund research to determine the functional contribution of tissue-resident macrophages in regulating salivary gland development, including...
- The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) awarded a $468,875 Project Grant under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research (CFDA 93.121) program to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) for the project "Aging, Sex Bias, and CD8 T Cell Exhaustion in Salivary Gland Inflammation." This 2-year grant, with a period of performance from Sep 19, 2025 to Sep 18, 2027, will investigate the age- and sex-related immune mechanisms involved in the salivary gland...
- This $249,000 federal Project Grant, awarded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121), supports research to identify cell fate determination processes specific to salivary cell populations in order to advance regenerative therapies. The principal investigator at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey will conduct studies to understand the normal developmental processes and transcriptional and...
- The federal Project Grant award of $401,500 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121) will support research at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport (LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport) to investigate fundamental aspects of the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 within the salivary gland. The 2-year project aims to explore how antigen presentation mechanisms may shape or...
- This $429,000 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121) will fund research to evaluate the therapeutic potential of targeting phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) enzymes as a novel approach to alleviate symptoms and address the underlying causes of salivary gland dysfunction and xerostomia (dry mouth) associated with Sjögren's syndrome. The research will be conducted by the University of...
- This Project Grant award of $248,627, provided by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121), supports research to investigate the role of T cell response in Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (AA)-associated periodontal disease. The research aims to assess the systemic T cell response to AA in human periodontitis patients and determine the role of AA-specific T cells in driving periodontal tissue...
- This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121), provides $231,492 to develop an in vitro salivary gland Sjogren's syndrome (SS) tissue chip (SSTC) platform. The goal is to use this SSTC platform to investigate the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on the growth and function of salivary gland tissue mimetics. The project will also perform RNA sequencing studies...
- This Project Grant award of $409,960 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121) will support the development of a human salivary gland-on-a-chip model at Texas A&M University System Health Science Center. The goal is to establish normal and radiation-damaged salivary gland models that incorporate epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and macrophages to better understand and develop treatments for...
THE ROLE OF TUFTS CELLS IN SALIVARY GLAND IMMUNITY - PROJECT SUMMARY TUFT CELLS ARE RARE CHOLINERGIC CHEMOSENSORY EPITHELIAL CELLS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING AN UNUSUAL SPECTRUM OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTOR MOLECULES, SUCH AS INTERLEUKINS, EICOSANOIDS AND NEUROTRANSMITTERS. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT TUFT CELLS ARE CAPABLE OF TRIGGERING IMMUNE RESPONSES IN DIFFERENT ORGANS (E.G., INTESTINE AND AIRWAYS) VIA G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR-DEPENDENT PATHWAYS, INVOLVING COMPONENTS OF CHEMOSENSORY TRANSDUCTION. ALTHOUGH TUFT CELLS HAVE BEEN DETECTED IN SALIVARY GLANDS, THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THIS ORGAN ARE UNKNOWN. THE AIMS OF THIS PROJECT ARE DESIGNED TO UTILIZE MODERN TECHNOLOGIES TO EXPLORE TUFT CELLS BIOLOGY IN SALIVARY GLAND EPITHELIUM AS WELL AS THEIR ROLE IN INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY. THE K99 PHASE PROPOSES TO (1) TO INVESTIGATE TUFT CELL DISTRIBUTION AND FUNCTION IN SALIVARY GLAND EPITHELIUM THROUGH ADVANCED MICROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES AS WELL AS IN VIVO EXPERIMENTS; (2) TO DETERMINE TUFT CELL CHEMOSENSORY COMPONENTS IN SALIVARY GLAND EPITHELIUM USING SINGLE CELL ANALYSIS; (3) TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF TUFT CELL ON SALIVARY GLAND INNATE IMMUNITY USING TUFT CELL ABLATION IN VIVO MODEL. DURING THIS TIME THE CANDIDATE WILL COMPLETE MENTORED TRAINING IN MOLECULAR IMMUNOLOGY AND BIOLOGY, HIGH-RESOLUTION MICROSCOPY, SINGLE CELL RNA SEQUENCING AND SPATIAL TRANSCRIPTOMICS AS WELL AS COURSES IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE INDEPENDENT R00 PHASE WILL INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF TUFT CELLS IN SALIVARY GLAND ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY UTILIZING SJOGREN'S SYNDROME-LIKE MOUSE MODELS AND HUMAN SPECIMENS. TOGETHER, THE NEW GENERATED INFORMATION WILL ALLOW A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF TUFT CELL BIOLOGY IN SALIVARY GLAND AND ALLOW THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR SALIVARY GLAND DISEASES.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $110.6k | 5/23/25 | ||
| Not listed | $249.0k | 4/3/25 | ||
| Not listed | $249.0k | 4/3/25 |