Activation of salivary gland epithelial cells from different subset of patients with primary Sjögren syndrome: towards a personalized medicine
| Componente | Categoria |
|---|---|
| Rossana Scrivo | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Andrea Pilloni | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Fulvia Ceccarelli | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Bruno Salvati | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Cristiana Barbati | Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group |
| Cristiano Alessandri | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Componente | Qualifica | Struttura | Categoria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roberta Priori | Dirigente Medico | UOC Reumatologia | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Serena Colafrancesco | Assegnista di Ricerca | Reumatologia | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Francesca Barone | Professor of Rheumatology | Birmingham University UK | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Tania Colasanti | Assegnista di ricerca | Reumatologia | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Emma Rullo | Specializzanda | Anatomia Patologica | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
Sjögren Syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of lacrimal and salivary glands with consequent irreversible loss of secretory function. SS is characterized by heterogeneous clinical, histological and laboratory features and this heterogeneity mirrors different underlying pathogenic mechanisms. The activation of the local salivary gland epithelial cells during inflammation plays a major role in SS pathogenesis. Indeed, during disease course, salivary gland epithelial cells become ¿activated¿ and express several molecules including chemokines, cytokines, costimulatory molecules and innate immune receptors, able to drive and maintain the local inflammation.
Currently, there is no effective therapy for SS and the primary reason for failure in clinical trials is represented by the lack of criteria to diversify and select patients. The hypothesis that is pivotal to this study is that different clinical phenotypes of SS arise from different grades/types of inflammation in exocrine glands, with epithelial cells playing a central pathogenic role. According to this hypothesis, the aim of this study is to determine the different molecular mechanisms driving the development of heterogeneous subsets of patients with SS.
Results will provide new information regarding the exact mechanisms driving salivary gland dysfunction, lymphocytic recruitment and development of autoimmunity in individual SS patients, and will instruct tailored therapeutic approaches.