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Calcium channel links radiation to salivary gland problems in mice

Mice lacking the channel resisted early salivary gland dysfunction after irradiation; the authors linked its effects to cells entering a nondividing state.

Paper by Viktor R. Drel, Shankara N. Varadarajan, Tarek Mohamed Abd El-Aziz, +3 more authorsBrij Bhan Singh
Graphical abstract from iScience
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Graphical abstract. Drel et al., CC BY-NC

Our read

Mechanisms
Studied:
Experiments in mice lacking TRPM2
What changed:
Mice lacking TRPM2 resisted early salivary gland dysfunction after irradiation
The catch:
The duration of resistance to salivary gland dysfunction was not reported
In the record:
One of 22 papers on piperlongumine on record: 5 with results in people, 2 in animals.
Why it’s aging research:
Something that builds up with age.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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In experiments in mice, researchers identified TRPM2, a channel that lets calcium enter cells, as a key mediator of salivary gland dysfunction after irradiation. Mice lacking the gene for this channel resisted the dysfunction in the early period after irradiation.

Analysis of gene activity in these mice found increased activity in pathways involved in cell division. The mice also had lower levels of reactive oxygen molecules and reduced activity in associated pathways. The authors concluded that calcium entry through TRPM2 promoted cellular senescence, a state in which cells stop dividing, contributing to radiation-induced gland dysfunction.

Why it matters

Cellular senescence is a focus of aging research. The findings point to this process as a possible target for limiting radiation-induced salivary gland dysfunction.

Caveats

These were mouse experiments, not evidence of benefit in people. The abstract describes early resistance after irradiation but does not report how long it lasted.

Where the evidence stands

Piperlongumine

Cells: replicated by independent labs. Mice: a single group. Worms or flies and humans: nothing yet.

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

  • 7 independent labs in 5 countries
  • Funders: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and others
  • 3 of 19 findings with company ties

Quercetin

Cells, worms or flies, mice and humans: replicated by independent labs.

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

No results posted: trials that ended over a year ago with no results on ClinicalTrials.gov and no paper reporting them.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

  • 160 independent labs in 33 countries
  • 49 findings against
  • 51 trials, 12 with no results posted
  • Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China and others
  • 19 of 603 findings with company ties

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