Kirsten Limesand
University of Arizona, AZ·Physiology
Radiation therapy for head and neck cancer often damages the salivary glands. As a result, more than 73% of patients still suffer from chronic dry mouth (xerostomia) months to years after treatment.
- Fields
Physiology
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
salivary gland
parotid gland
xerostomia
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2030
What they work on
- Define the metabolic state and function of T cells, including CD4+CD8+ double-positive T cells, in mouse parotid glands over time after fractionated radiation.
- Test whether modulating T-cell metabolism improves the repair of radiation-damaged salivary epithelial cells.
- Identify the immune cell populations that surround damaged salivary epithelial cells after radiation.
- Determine how the metabolic state of immune cells affects the ability of metformin to reverse radiation-induced salivary gland dysfunction.
More about the research
Losing saliva harms quality of life and can undermine cancer treatment. Progress on this problem has been slowed by the lack of a detailed model of the molecular stages of radiation damage. The long-term goal is to restore salivary function by finding the mechanisms behind each stage.
Why it matters
Head and neck cancer survivors often live with lasting dry mouth after radiotherapy. That hurts their quality of life and can reduce how well anti-cancer treatment works. By revealing how immune cells interfere with healing in irradiated salivary glands, this work could identify intervention points. These might include adjusting T-cell metabolism or using metformin to restore saliva production.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Cuong Q Nguyen
University of Florida, FL·Microbiology & Immunology
Catalog chemically modified peptides in salivary glands from Sjögren's disease mouse models and patients, using ultrasensitive deep proteome profiling with high-resolution proteomics.
Harim Tavares Dos Santos
University at Buffalo, NY·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Map where tuft cells, rare chemosensory cells of the gland lining, are located in salivary gland epithelium and what they do, using advanced microscopy and experiments in living mice.
Ruth Franklin
Harvard University, MA·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine how macrophages, tissue-patrolling immune cells, regulate inflammatory responses after viral or chemical damage to mucosal tissues in ways that promote host survival.
The school
University of Arizona: 36 labs on PI Pages, $1.0B a year on research, 487 research doctorates a year.
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