Unraveling the molecular pathobiology of vocal fold systemic dehydration using an in vivo rabbit model

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 7; p. e0236348
• Main Authors: Cannes do Nascimento, Naila, dos Santos, Andrea P., Sivasankar, M. Preeti, Cox, Abigail
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 31.07.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomechanical Phenomena; Biomechanics; Cell adhesion; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell Adhesion - genetics; Cell proliferation; Cell Proliferation - genetics; Dehydration; Dehydration (Physiology); Dehydration - genetics; Dehydration - metabolism; Dehydration - pathology; Disease Models, Animal; Epithelial cells; Epithelial Cells - metabolism; Epithelial Cells - pathology; Experiments; Food; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation - genetics; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genotypes; Human subjects; Humans; Hydration; In vivo methods and tests; Intercellular Junctions - genetics; Interleukin 1; Laboratory animals; Lamina propria; Laryngeal Muscles - metabolism; Laryngeal Muscles - pathology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mucous Membrane - metabolism; Mucous Membrane - pathology; Muscles; Observations; Proteins; Rabbits; Research and Analysis Methods; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Studies; Vibration; Viscoelasticity; Vocal cords; Vocal Cords - metabolism; Vocal Cords - pathology; Vocal organs; Voice; Voice Disorders - genetics; Voice Disorders - pathology; United States; Indiana; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236348

Vocal folds are a viscoelastic multilayered structure responsible for voice production. Vocal fold epithelial damage may weaken the protection of deeper layers of lamina propria and thyroarytenoid muscle and impair voice production. Systemic dehydration can adversely affect vocal function by creating suboptimal biomechanical conditions for vocal fold vibration. However, the molecular pathobiology of systemically dehydrated vocal folds is poorly understood. We used an in vivo rabbit model to investigate the complete gene expression profile of systemically dehydrated vocal folds. The RNA-Seq based transcriptome revealed 203 differentially expressed (DE) vocal fold genes due to systemic dehydration. Interestingly, function enrichment analysis showed downregulation of genes involved in cell adhesion, cell junction, inflammation, and upregulation of genes involved in cell proliferation. RT-qPCR validation was performed for a subset of DE genes and confirmed the downregulation of DSG1, CDH3, NECTIN1, SDC1, S100A9, SPINK5, ECM1, IL1A, and IL36A genes. In addition, the upregulation of the transcription factor NR4A3 gene involved in epithelial cell proliferation was validated. Taken together, these results suggest an alteration of the vocal fold epithelial barrier independent of inflammation, which could indicate a disruption and remodeling of the epithelial barrier integrity. This transcriptome provides a first global picture of the molecular changes in vocal fold tissue in response to systemic dehydration. The alterations observed at the transcriptional level help to understand the pathobiology of dehydration in voice function and highlight the benefits of hydration in voice therapy.