Gene expression analysis of human salivary gland and organoid at single cell resolution

Salivary glands that produce and secret saliva, which is essential for lubrication, digestion, immunity, and oral homeostasis, consist of diverse cells. Maintenance of diverse salivary gland cells in organoids remains problematic. Here, we established human salivary gland organoids, which is composed of multiple cellular subsets, from 3 major salivary glands, including parotid gland (PG), submandibular gland (SMG), and sublingual gland (SLG). Human salivary gland organoids expressed gland-specific genes and proteins of acinar, myoepithelial, and duct cells. Organoids were maintained in growth media (named GEM) and further underwent differentiation in differentiation media (named DAM). Our study will provide an experimental platform for the exploration of mechanisms involvled in tissue regeneration, development, or several salivary gland diseases. Overall design: Single cell RNA sequencing of human salivary gland tissues and organoids. Comparative analysis of single cell RNA-seq for human SMG organoids cultured for 1 month and 3 months.