Angiotensin II (AngII) is a vasopressor hormone that has critical roles in maintenance of normal blood pressure and pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. We previously generated pregnancy-associated hypertensive (PAH) mice by mating female human angiotensinogen transgenic mice with male human renin transgenic mice. PAH mice exhibit hypertension in late pregnancy by overproducing AngII. A rec...

The stromal microenvironment regulates mammary gland branching morphogenesis. We have observed that mast cells are present in the mammary gland throughout its postnatal development and, in particular, are found around the terminal end buds and ductal epithelium of the pubertal gland. Mast cells contribute to allergy, inflammatory diseases, and cancer development but have not been implicated in ...

Studies in rodent models of breast cancer show that exposures to dietary/hormonal factors during the in utero and pubertal periods, when the mammary gland undergoes extensive modeling and re-modeling, alter susceptibility to carcinogen-induced mammary tumors. Similar findings have been described in humans: for example, high birthweight increases later risk of developing breast cancer, and dieta...

The Ron receptor tyrosine kinase regulates multiple cellular processes and is important during mammary gland development and tumor progression. Hepatocyte growth factor-like protein [HGFL] is the only known ligand for the Ron receptor and recent studies have identified major roles for HGFL during breast cancer metastasis. Understanding the functional importance HGFL during mammary gland develop...

Objective- This study refers to the role of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of mammary gland tumor in bitches as a complementary diagnostic method and its ultimate goal is to evaluate the results of mammography with the positive results of ultrasonography. Design- Prospective study. Animals- 12 German Shepherd bitches with swollen mass in the mammary gland region (group I) and 12 h...

Bioengineering of the mammary gland to produce proteins of therapeutic and industrial value is the result of extensive investigation of the physiology of the mammary gland and the ability to generate transgenic animals. Targeting the expression of heterologous proteins to mammary tissue requires a thorough understanding of the biochemical events that coordinate growth and differentiation of the...

Epoxide hydrolases (EC 3.3.2.3) (EH) are hydrolytic enzymes which may play an important role in the activation and detoxification of mammary carcinogens. In this study, microsomal, cytosolic, and cholesterol epoxide hydrolases along with glutathione S-transferase were characterized in liver and mammary gland from nulliparous and lactating BALB/c mice and from mice transplanted with preneoplasti...

To characterize the role of BRCA1 in mammary gland development and tumor suppression, a transgenic mouse model of BRCA1 overexpression was developed. Using the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter/enhancer, transgenic mice expressing human BRCA1 or select mutant controls were generated. Transgenic animals examined during adolescence were shown to express the human transgene in their mammar...

Estradiol is a major regulator of postnatal mammary gland development and thought to exert its effects through estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) expressed in the mammary gland stroma and epithelium. Previous studies, however, were confounded by the use of an ERalpha mutant strain that retains some of the protein with transactivation activity. Here, we use an ERalpha-/- mouse strain in which no ...

A 22-year-old female mandrill (Mandrillus sphinix) with continuously growing mass at the right mammary gland area was found dead, and a postmortem examination was performed. At necropsy, an elevated firm subcutaneous mass about 5 cm in diameter was present at the right mammary gland area. Axillary, mediastinal, and tracheobronchial lymph nodes were enlarged 2 to 4 times their normal sizes. Nume...