Multiple factors are associated with dry mouth disease e.g., radiation exposure during treatment for head and neck cancers, autoimmune diseases, defects in the genes that encode for water and ion transport proteins, and xerogenic medications. A thorough understanding of the molecular physiology of salivary glands is needed to restore function for these individuals. DNA microarrays studies are perfectly suited to unravel the complex regulation and interaction of both genes and proteins involved in salivary gland physiological processes.

We have used commercially available microarray chips containing several thousand genes to monitor overall changes in the gene profile of salivary gland (Ten Hagen et al, 2002, Melvin, unpublished results). However, the signal of key water and ion transporter are undetectable in these commercial microarray chips.

In collaboration with the University of Rochester’s Functional Genomics Center we have fabricated a “Salivary gland Secretion” cDNA microarray Chip, which contains about 200 cDNAs to detect transcripts for the known key water and ion transporter proteins, important signaling molecules and major secretary proteins of both mouse and human salivary glands. Approximately 80% of the genes represented on the array were detected in mouse and human parotid samples. Insight gained by understanding the function and regulation of the proteins involved in mouse and human salivary gland secretion will be used for developing strategies to treat salivary gland dysfunction.