Post-lactational mammary gland regression: molecular basis and implications for breast cancer

2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (32) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine J. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Mammary Gland ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Subsequent Pregnancy ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Tissue Remodelling ◽  
Pregnant State ◽  
Luminal Epithelial Cells

During pregnancy, there is a massive increase in the number of luminal epithelial cells in the breast, which are destined to become the milk factories after birth. These cells are no longer required when the young are weaned, and are removed in a carefully orchestrated event called involution. In this process, the secretory epithelial cells die and are replaced by adipocytes, which redifferentiate as the epithelium is removed. It is essential that the gland is properly remodelled to a pre-pregnant state so that successful lactation can occur following a subsequent pregnancy. Furthermore, failure to remove unnecessary lactational alveoli during weaning could result in inflammation and tissue damage. Recently, it has been shown that components in the fatty stroma in involuting breast can promote metastasis. Thus, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate involution, how these can fail, the consequences of the remodelling process, and how this knowledge can inform us about breast cancer. In this review, I discuss the roles of the JAK–STAT, NF-κB and other signalling pathways in the regulation of apoptosis and tissue remodelling during involution.

scholarly journals Mammary gland adipocytes in lactation cycle, obesity and breast cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Colleluori ◽  
Jessica Perugini ◽  
Giorgio Barbatelli ◽  
Saverio Cinti
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Mammary Gland ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Exocrine Gland ◽  
Plastic Properties ◽  
Lactation Cycle ◽  
Gland Development

AbstractThe mammary gland (MG) is an exocrine gland present in female mammals responsible for the production and secretion of milk during the process of lactation. It is mainly composed by epithelial cells and adipocytes. Among the features that make the MG unique there are 1) its highly plastic properties displayed during pregnancy, lactation and involution (all steps belonging to the lactation cycle) and 2) its requirement to grow in close association with adipocytes which are absolutely necessary to ensure MG’s proper development at puberty and remodeling during the lactation cycle. Although MG adipocytes play such a critical role for the gland development, most of the studies have focused on its epithelial component only, leaving the role of the neighboring adipocytes largely unexplored. In this review we aim to describe evidences regarding MG’s adipocytes role and properties in physiologic conditions (gland development and lactation cycle), obesity and breast cancer, emphasizing the existing gaps in the literature which deserve further investigation.

scholarly journals Highly metastatic claudin-low mammary cancers can originate from luminal epithelial cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick D. Rädler ◽  
Barbara L. Wehde ◽  
Aleata A. Triplett ◽  
Hridaya Shrestha ◽  
Jonathan H. Shepherd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Triple Negative ◽  
Molecular Subtype ◽  
Ras Signaling ◽  
Preneoplastic Lesions ◽  
Independent Manner ◽  
Oncogenic Ras ◽  
Luminal Epithelial Cells

AbstractClaudin-low breast cancer represents an aggressive molecular subtype that is comprised of mostly triple-negative mammary tumor cells that possess stem cell-like and mesenchymal features. Little is known about the cellular origin and oncogenic drivers that promote claudin-low breast cancer. In this study, we show that persistent oncogenic RAS signaling causes highly metastatic triple-negative mammary tumors in mice. More importantly, the activation of endogenous mutant KRAS and expression of exogenous KRAS specifically in luminal epithelial cells in a continuous and differentiation stage-independent manner induces preneoplastic lesions that evolve into basal-like and claudin-low mammary cancers. Further investigations demonstrate that the continuous signaling of oncogenic RAS, as well as regulators of EMT, play a crucial role in the cellular plasticity and maintenance of the mesenchymal and stem cell characteristics of claudin-low mammary cancer cells.

scholarly journals Microarray analysis of RhoC-transformed mammary epithelial cells suggests molecular mechanisms of inflammatory breast cancer

10.1038/87212 ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (S4) ◽  
pp. 73-73
Author(s):  
Sofia Merajver ◽  
Zhi-Fen Wu ◽  
Tammy Chang ◽  
Hamid Mirshahidi ◽  
Paul Meltzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Microarray Analysis ◽  
Inflammatory Breast Cancer ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Mammary Epithelial Cells ◽  
Mammary Epithelial

scholarly journals Estrogen receptor signaling is reprogrammed during breast tumorigenesis

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (23) ◽  
pp. 11437-11443 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Chi ◽  
Hari Singhal ◽  
Lewyn Li ◽  
Tengfei Xiao ◽  
Weihan Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Estrogen Receptor ◽  
Mammary Gland ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Breast Tumors ◽  
Normal Mammary Gland ◽  
Breast Tumorigenesis ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Estrogen Stimulation

Limited knowledge of the changes in estrogen receptor (ER) signaling during the transformation of the normal mammary gland to breast cancer hinders the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies. Differences in estrogen signaling between normal human primary breast epithelial cells and primary breast tumors obtained immediately following surgical excision were explored. Transcriptional profiling of normal ER+ mature luminal mammary epithelial cells and ER+ breast tumors revealed significant difference in the response to estrogen stimulation. Consistent with these differences in gene expression, the normal and tumor ER cistromes were distinct and sufficient to segregate normal breast tissues from breast tumors. The selective enrichment of the DNA binding motif GRHL2 in the breast cancer-specific ER cistrome suggests that it may play a role in the differential function of ER in breast cancer. Depletion of GRHL2 resulted in altered ER binding and differential transcriptional responses to estrogen stimulation. Furthermore, GRHL2 was demonstrated to be essential for estrogen-stimulated proliferation of ER+ breast cancer cells. DLC1 was also identified as an estrogen-induced tumor suppressor in the normal mammary gland with decreased expression in breast cancer. In clinical cohorts, loss of DLC1 and gain of GRHL2 expression are associated with ER+ breast cancer and are independently predictive for worse survival. This study suggests that normal ER signaling is lost and tumor-specific ER signaling is gained during breast tumorigenesis. Unraveling these changes in ER signaling during breast cancer progression should aid the development of more effective prevention strategies and targeted therapeutics.

scholarly journals Evidence for accelerated aging in mammary epithelia of women carrying germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations

Nature Aging ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 838-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sundus F. Shalabi ◽  
Masaru Miyano ◽  
Rosalyn W. Sayaman ◽  
Jennifer C. Lopez ◽  
Tiina A. Jokela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Cancer Susceptibility ◽  
Breast Cancer Subtype ◽  
Accelerated Aging ◽  
Myoepithelial Cells ◽  
Normal Breast ◽  
Younger Women ◽  
Luminal And Myoepithelial Cells ◽  
Luminal Epithelial Cells

AbstractDuring aging in the human mammary gland, luminal epithelial cells lose lineage fidelity by expressing markers normally expressed in myoepithelial cells. We hypothesize that loss of lineage fidelity is a general manifestation of epithelia that are susceptible to cancer initiation. In the present study, we show that histologically normal breast tissue from younger women who are susceptible to breast cancer, as a result of harboring a germline mutation in BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2 genes, exhibits hallmarks of accelerated aging. These include proportionately increased luminal epithelial cells that acquired myoepithelial markers, decreased proportions of myoepithelial cells and a basal differentiation bias or failure of differentiation of cKit+ progenitors. High-risk luminal and myoepithelial cells are transcriptionally enriched for genes of the opposite lineage, inflammatory- and cancer-related pathways. We have identified breast-aging hallmarks that reflect a convergent biology of cancer susceptibility, regardless of the specific underlying genetic or age-dependent risk or the associated breast cancer subtype.

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