The Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease-causing chronic inflammation and destruction of exocrine glands, including the lacrimal and salivary glands, resulting in symptoms such as dry eyes and dry mouth. Although Sjogren's syndrome can be developed at any age, most people are older than 40 years at the time of diagnosis and the condition is much more common in women. Sjögren's syndrome is a long-term condition that does not usually get better on its own, although the symptoms can often be treated by coping therapy, resulting in extensive dental caries and mouth infection, such as candidiasis by decreasing saliva, and overall, it can have a detrimental effect on quality of life for those affected. From the above, this could become a major problem in developed countries such as Japan, France, and China in the future.
It is generally believed that regulatory T cells (Treg), which are responsible for immune tolerance, are involved in the development and progression of autoimmune diseases. The relationship between Sjögren's syndrome and Tregs has also been studied, but still no findings about the pathophysiology and pathogenesis have been made. Recently, non-coding RNA which is not translated to proteins was discovered. Among them, long non-coding RNAs longer than 200nt have been discovered to be involved in diverse biological processes such as cell differentiation, oncogenesis, ontogeny, and diseases through the regulation of transcription, translation, and epigenetics, and have attracted much attention. Today, I will first discuss general knowledge of Sjögren's syndrome and its effects on the oral cavity, and then I will discuss the pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome and drug discovery by presenting findings from our research between Sjögren's syndrome and Treg.