The tissue microenvironment directs stem/progenitor cell behavior. Cancer cells are also influenced by the microenvironment. It has been shown that, when placed into blastocysts, cancer cells respond to embryonic cues and differentiate according to the tissue type encountered during ontological development. Previously, we showed that the mouse mammary gland was capable of redirecting adult mous...

A growing body of research suggests a linkage between pubertal mammary gland development and environmental factors such as diet as modifiers of long term breast cancer risk. Much of this research is dependent upon mouse models, which may vary between studies. However, effects may be strain dependent and further modified by diet, which has not been previously examined. Therefore, the objective o...

Knowledge of general aspects of mammary gland function, including metabolic pathways and hormonal regulation of mammary gland development and lactation, in livestock species was obtained several decades ago. As basic biological information of growth factor action, apoptotic mechanisms, and signal transduction events has exploded, the mouse became the model of choice for studying fundamental mec...

Breast cancer occurs at rate of 1 out of 7. After so many years of research, even though treatment has been dramatically improved and survival rate and length significantly increased, there is still not cure for the disease. The possible existence of mammary gland stem cell and breast cancer stem cell [1, 2] lights the hope for finding a cure to this deadly disease. The rational behind is that ...

One topical application of 0.02 mmole of /V-hydroxy-2fluorenylacetamide to the left thoracic glands of adult female Sprague-Dawley rats gave a 70% tumor incidence at the site. The tumors appeared 3 to 6 months after the application and were mammary adenocarcinomas. In contrast, the tumor incidence after application of N-2fluorenylacetamide was 30%, the latent period was 8 to 11 months, and the ...

Any epithelial portion of a normal mouse mammary gland can reproduce an entire functional gland when transplanted into an epithelium-free mammary fat pad. Mouse mammary hyperplasias and tumors are clonal dominant populations and probably represent the progeny of a single transformed cell. Our study provides evidence that single multipotent stem cells positioned throughout the mature fully devel...

Metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract (MacRae et al. 1997) and liver (Lobley & Milano, 1997) has been shown to be important in determining the amount and pattern of amino acids (AA) available post-hepatically for mammary gland utilization as well as for muscle, skin and, indeed, the gastrointestinal tract. High rates of metabolism by the non-mammary tissues have been suggested as one reason ...

Leptin, a protein produced and secreted by adipocytes, is know to regulate food intake and whole-body energy metabolism, but knowledge about its possible effect in bovine mammary gland is scarce. Leptin may be involved in the regulation of glucose transport even though this effect at the tissue level remains controversial. Once uptaken by the mammary gland, glucose is utilised in several ways b...

The mammary gland is a dynamic organ that undergoes structural and functional changes associated with growth, reproduction, and post-menopausal regression. The postnatal transformations of the epithelium and stromal cells of the mammary gland may contribute to its susceptibility to carcinogenesis. The increased cancer incidence in mammary glands of humans and similarly of rodents in association...

One topical application of 0.02 mmole of /V-hydroxy-2fluorenylacetamide to the left thoracic glands of adult female Sprague-Dawley rats gave a 70% tumor incidence at the site. The tumors appeared 3 to 6 months after the application and were mammary adenocarcinomas. In contrast, the tumor incidence after application of N-2fluorenylacetamide was 30%, the latent period was 8 to 11 months, and the ...