Myoepithelial cells (MECs) are a unique subset of epithelial cells that possess several smooth muscle cell characteristics, such as a high number of actin-myosin filaments and the ability to contract. These cells are primarily located around the secretory cells of exocrine glands, including the salivary, mammary, lacrimal, and sweat glands. Their primary functions involve the construction of the basement membrane and help with secretion of gland products through contraction. So far, no comparative analysis of MECs in different exocrine glands had ever evaluated their differences. In this review, we took advantage of the various publicly available scRNAseq data from mouse exocrine glands to identify their shared and unique characteristics.

The aim of this review is to compare the role of MECs in maintaining healthy glandular function, their involvement in disease states, and their regenerative capacity, with a particular emphasis on the latest research findings in these areas.

肌上皮细胞 (MEC) 是上皮细胞的一个独特子集，具有多种平滑肌细胞特征，例如大量肌动蛋白-肌球蛋白丝和收缩能力。这些细胞主要位于外分泌腺的分泌细胞周围，包括唾液腺、乳腺、泪腺和汗腺。它们的主要功能涉及基底膜的构建并通过收缩帮助分泌腺体产物。到目前为止，还没有对不同外分泌腺中的 MEC 进行比较分析来评估它们的差异。在这篇综述中，我们利用来自小鼠外分泌腺的各种公开的 scRNAseq 数据来识别它们共有和独特的特征。

本综述的目的是比较 MEC 在维持健康腺体功能中的作用、它们对疾病状态的参与以及它们的再生能力，特别强调这些领域的最新研究结果。