The future of healing is regenerative
A new center for regenerative sciences will unite experts across different fields and organizations to bring life-changing therapies to patients
By Orith Farago
For many suffering from oral diseases, research that leads to new therapies can be life-changing.
This includes those with salivary glands that aren’t functioning well after undergoing radiation for head or neck cancer, making it hard to perform everyday functions like chewing and swallowing. Lack of saliva can also cause bad breath, keeping patients from engaging in social activities and lowering their quality of life.
With the recent launch of the School of Dentistry’s Center for Regenerative Sciences, research to find potential regenerative therapies to improve the function of salivary glands and other ailments of the mouth can be brought to new clinical trials and potentially provide relief for many patients.
The new center leverages interdisciplinary collaboration from experts across UT Health San Antonio and the region to encourage research that can translate into clinical applications and position the university at the forefront of regenerative dentistry and medicine.
“We have engaged with other research experts from the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine and the Southwest National Primate Research Center to build up very broad connections,” said Xiao-Dong Chen, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Comprehensive Dentistry. It was Chen’s vision to create the center to bring experts together from various fields to leverage their unique expertise.
The center has three areas of primary focus, including:
- Development of regenerative medicine strategies based on the use of stem cells that have been primed by a culture on a tissue-specific microenvironment or environment such as bone, cartilage or nerve.
- Regeneration of salivary glands that have been destroyed by radiation therapy for head and neck cancer or autoimmune diseases, such as Sjögren’s syndrome, a systemic autoimmune disease that affects the entire body with symptoms of extensive dryness and other complications including fatigue, chronic pain, major organ involvement, neuropathies and lymphomas, according to the Sjögren’s Foundation.
- Fabrication of 3D-printed scaffolds that replicate skeletal bone structure and function, such as bone grafts for reconstructing craniofacial defects or manufacturing large quantities of bone marrow cells for advanced stem cell-based therapies.
How research could impact patients
According to the results of a study published in Stem Cell Research & Therapy in 2022, Chen and his colleagues posited the feasibility of using stem cells to treat hypofunctioning salivary glands and restoring the production of saliva in patients. After the findings were released, hopeful patients wrote letters to Chen, anxious to learn more about how the study could translate into potential therapeutics for them.
Chen said it was difficult for him to read about the suffering these patients endured from the lack of saliva. It was even more difficult to let them know that he and his colleagues still have a long way to go to prove their concept and translate their findings into clinical applications.
For Chen, receiving those letters reaffirmed the importance of the center’s mission to bring experts together to support collaborative research that can ultimately be translated into meaningful therapeutics for patients.
Chen hopes that with the support of the center, he and his colleagues can take the salivary gland research to the next level by conducting further research and an early clinical trial.
Brij B. Singh, PhD, associate dean for research, was appointed interim director of the Center for Regenerative Sciences when the center launched in August 2024. Recruitment for the inaugural director is underway.
