scholarly journals Parity-induced changes to mammary epithelial cells control NKT cell expansion and mammary oncogenesis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amritha V. Hanasoge Somasundara ◽  
Matthew A. Moss ◽  
Mary J. Feigman ◽  
Chen Chen ◽  
Samantha L. Cyrill ◽  
...  

SummaryPregnancy reprograms the epigenome of mammary epithelial cells (MECs) in a manner that control responses to pregnancy hormone re-exposure and the rate of carcinoma progression. However, the influence of pregnancy on the tissue microenvironment of the mammary gland is less clear. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to comparatively profile the composition of epithelial and non-epithelial cells in mammary tissue from nulliparous and parous female mice. Our analysis revealed an expansion of γδ Natural Killer T (NKT) immune cells following pregnancy, in association with upregulation of immune signal molecules in post-pregnancy MECs. We show that expansion of NKT cells following pregnancy is due to elevated expression of the antigen presenting molecule CD1d protein, which is known to induce NKT activation. Accordingly, loss of CD1d expression on post-pregnancy MECs, or overall lack of activated NKT cells, accompanied the development of mammary oncogenesis in response to cMYC overexpression and loss of Brca1 function. Collectively, our findings illustrate how pregnancy-induced epigenetic changes modulate the communication between MECs and the mammary immune microenvironment, and establish a causal link between pregnancy, the immune microenvironment, and mammary oncogenesis.

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 757 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Gray ◽  
Y. Strandberg ◽  
L. Donaldson ◽  
R. L. Tellam

Innate immunity plays a vital role in the protection of the bovine mammary gland against mastitis. Until recently, the migration of effector cells such as neutrophils and monocytes into the mammary gland was thought to provide the only defence against invading pathogens. However, mammary epithelial cells may also play an important role in the immune response, contributing to the innate defence of the mammary tissue through secretion of antimicrobial peptides and attraction of circulating immune effector cells. This paper reviews the innate immune pathways in mammary epithelial cells and examines their role in the initiation of an innate immune response to Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.


2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-355
Author(s):  
Xinyang Fan ◽  
Lihua Qiu ◽  
Xiaohong Teng ◽  
Yongyun Zhang ◽  
Yongwang Miao

AbstractWe hypothesized that insulin-induced gene 1 (INSIG1) affects milk fat synthesis in buffalo. For this reason, the protein abundance of INSIG1 in the mammary tissue of buffalo during the peak period of lactation and dry-off period was evaluated. The results showed that the expression of INSIG1 at the peak of lactation was lower than that in the dry-off period. To explore the role of INSIG1 in milk fat synthesis, the buffalo mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) were isolated and purified from buffalo mammary tissue, and INSIG1 gene were overexpressed and knocked down by constructing the recombinant lentivirus vector of INSIG1 gene and transfecting into BMECs. Results revealed that INSIG1 overexpression decreased the expression of INSIG2, SREBP, PPARG, SCD, GPAM, DGAT2 and AGPAT6, which led to reduction of triglycerides (TAG) content in the cell. In contrast, knockdown of INSIG1 had a positive effect on mRNA expression of the above genes. Overall, the data provide strong support for a key role of INSIG1 in the regulation of milk fat synthesis in BMECs.


1989 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Winder ◽  
A. Turvey ◽  
I. A. Forsyth

ABSTRACT Ovine mammary epithelial cell clumps (30–90 μm) were plated onto attached gels of rat tail collagen in serum-free medium. Synthesis of DNA by these cultures could be stimulated by insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) with a median effective dose of 5 μg/l, irrespective of stage of pregnancy. The time-course of response, however, was significantly slower in cells prepared from mammary tissue of non-pregnant and early pregnant sheep compared with sheep later in pregnancy. IGF-II had approximately 10% of the potency of IGF-I in stimulating DNA synthesis. Insulin acted over a wide concentration range and produced a maximum rate of stimulation not significantly different from that produced by IGF-I. These results are consistent with actions through the type-I IGF receptor although insulin may also act through its own receptor, possibly stimulating local IGF-I production. It is concluded that IGF-I is an important mitogen for ovine mammary epithelial cells. Journal of Endocrinology (1989) 123, 319–326


1986 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Thordarson ◽  
R. Villalobos ◽  
P. Colosi ◽  
J. Southard ◽  
L. Ogren ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The ability of mouse placental lactogen (mPL), mouse prolactin (mPRL), mouse GH (mGH) and ovine prolactin (oPRL) to stimulate synthesis of α-lactalbumin was tested in a primary culture of mouse mammary gland epithelial cells. Mammary tissue was obtained from 10-day pregnant Swiss Webster mice, enzymatically dissociated and the cells were cultured on floating collagen gels for 5 days. The basic culture medium consisted of Nutrient Mixture F12/Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (1:1, v/v), containing 10 mg insulin/1, 5 mg cortisol/l, 10 μg epidermal growth factor/l, 5 g bovine serum albumin/l and 50 mg gentamycin/l. Mouse PL, mPRL, mGH and oPRL were added to the basic medium in concentrations from l μg/l to l mg/l. Accumulation of α-lactalbumin in the culture medium was measured. For that purpose, mouse α-lactalbumin was purified from mammary tissue obtained from lactating Swiss Webster mice and a radioimmunoassay was developed. Mouse PL, mPRL and oPRL stimulated a dose-dependent increase in α-lactalbumin secretion. Mouse GH also caused a significant, but dose-independent, increase in α-lactalbumin secretion. Mouse PL showed the greatest activity in stimulating α-lactalbumin secretion. It was concluded that mPL is an important lactogenic hormone in the latter half of pregnancy in the mouse, when circulating mPRL concentrations are low. J. Endocr. (1986) 109, 263–274


1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 1771-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.D. Metcalfe ◽  
A. Gilmore ◽  
T. Klinowska ◽  
J. Oliver ◽  
A.J. Valentijn ◽  
...  

Epithelial cells within the mammary gland undergo developmental programmes of proliferation and apoptosis during the pregnancy cycle. After weaning, secretory epithelial cells are removed by apoptosis. To determine whether members of the Bcl-2 gene family could be involved in regulating this process, we have examined whether changes in their expression occur during this developmental apoptotic program in vivo. Bax and Bcl-x were evenly expressed throughout development. However, expression of Bak and Bad was increased during late pregnancy and lactation, and the proteins were present during the time of maximal apoptotic involution. Thereafter, their levels declined. In contrast, Bcl-w was expressed in pregnancy and lactation but was downregulated at the onset of apoptosis. Bcl-2 was not detected in lactating or early involuting mammary gland. Thus, the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax, Bak and Bad, as well as the death-suppressors Bcl-x, Bcl-2 and Bcl-w, are synthesised in mouse mammary gland, and dynamic changes in the expression profiles of these proteins occurs during development. To determine if changes in Bak and Bcl-w expression could regulate mammary apoptosis, their effect on cultured mouse mammary epithelial cells was examined in transient transfection assays. Enforced expression of Bak induced rapid mammary apoptosis, which could be suppressed by coexpression of Bcl-w. In extracts of mammary tissue in vivo, Bak heterodimerized with Bcl-x whereas Bax associated with Bcl-w, but Bak/Bcl-w heterodimers were not detected. Thus, Bak and Bcl-w may regulate cell death through independent pathways. These results support a model in which mammary epithelial cells are primed for apoptosis during the transition from pregnancy to lactation by de novo expression of the death effectors Bak and Bad. It is suggested that these proteins are prevented from triggering apoptosis by anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins until involution, when the levels of Bcl-w decline. Our study provides evidence that regulated changes in the expression of cell death genes may contribute to the developmental control of mammary apoptosis.


2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 1797-1809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salim Bougarn ◽  
Patricia Cunha ◽  
Abdallah Harmache ◽  
Angélina Fromageau ◽  
Florence B. Gilbert ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus, a major pathogen for the mammary gland of dairy ruminants, elicits the recruitment of neutrophils into milk during mastitis, but the mechanisms are incompletely understood. We investigated the response of the bovine mammary gland to muramyl dipeptide (MDP), an elementary constituent of the bacterial peptidoglycan, alone or in combination with lipoteichoic acid (LTA), another staphylococcal microbial-associated molecular pattern (MAMP). MDP induced a prompt and marked influx of neutrophils in milk, and its combination with LTA elicited a more intense and prolonged influx than the responses to either stimulus alone. The concentrations of several chemoattractants for neutrophils (CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, CXCL8, and C5a) increased in milk after challenge, and the highest increases followed challenge with the combination of MDP and LTA. MDP and LTA were also synergistic in inducing in vitro chemokine production by bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMEpC). Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2), a major sensor of MDP, was expressed (mRNA) in bovine mammary tissue and by bMEpC in culture. The production of interleukin-8 (IL-8) following the stimulation of bMEpC by LTA and MDP was dependent on the activation of NF-κB. LTA-induced IL-8 production did not depend on platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR), as the PAFR antagonist WEB2086 was without effect. In contrast, bMEpC and mammary tissue are known to express Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and to respond to TLR2 agonists. Although the levels of expression of the inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and IL-1β were increased by LTA and MDP at the mRNA level, no protein could be detected in the bMEpC culture supernatant. The level of induction of IL-6 was low at both the mRNA and protein levels. These results indicate that MDP and LTA exert synergistic effects to induce neutrophilic inflammation in the mammary gland. These results also show that bMEpC could contribute to the inflammatory response by recognizing LTA and MDP and secreting chemokines but not proinflammatory cytokines. Overall, this study indicates that the TLR2 and NOD2 pathways could cooperate to trigger an innate immune response to S. aureus mastitis.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (17) ◽  
pp. 4159-4170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Li ◽  
Gertraud W. Robinson ◽  
Ralf Lesche ◽  
Hilda Martinez-Diaz ◽  
Zhaorong Jiang ◽  
...  

PTEN tumor suppressor is frequently mutated in human cancers, including breast cancers. Female patients with inherited PTEN mutations suffer from virginal hypertrophy of the breast with high risk of malignant transformation. However, the exact mechanisms of PTEN in controlling mammary gland development and tumorigenesis are unclear. In this study, we generated mice with a mammary-specific deletion of the Pten gene. Mutant mammary tissue displayed precocious lobulo-alveolar development, excessive ductal branching, delayed involution and severely reduced apoptosis. Pten null mammary epithelial cells were disregulated and hyperproliferative. Mutant females developed mammary tumors early in life. Similar phenotypes were observed in Pten-null mammary epithelia that had been transplanted into wild-type stroma, suggesting that PTEN plays an essential and cell-autonomous role in controlling the proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of mammary epithelial cells.


2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Mu ◽  
Dongmei Zheng ◽  
Cong Wang ◽  
Wei Yu ◽  
Xiaonan Zhang

This research paper addresses the hypothesis that RagD is a key signalling factor that regulates amino acid (AA) mediated-casein synthesis and cell proliferation in cow mammary epithelial cells (CMECs). The expression of RagD was analysed at different times during pregnancy and lactation in bovine mammary tissue from dairy cows. We showed that expression of RagD at lactation period was higher (P < 0·05) than that at pregnancy period. When CMECs were treated with methionine (Met) or lysine (Lys), expression of RagD, β-casein (CSN2), mTOR and p-mTOR, and cell proliferation were increased. Further, when CMECs were treated to overexpress RagD, expression of CSN2, mTOR and p-mTOR, and cell proliferation were up-regulated. Furthermore, the increase in expression of CSN2, mTOR and p-mTOR, and cell proliferation in response to Met or Lys supply was inhibited by inhibiting RagD, and those effects were reversed in the overexpression model. When CMECs were treated with RagD overexpression together with mTOR inhibition or conversely with RagD inhibition together with mTOR overexpression, results showed that the increase in expression of CSN2 and cell proliferation in response to RagD overexpression was prevented by inhibiting mTOR, and those effects were reversed by overexpressing mTOR. The interaction of RagD with subunit proteins of mTORC1 was analysed, and the result showed that RagD interacted with Raptor. CMECs were treated with Raptor inhibition, and the result showed that the increase in expression of mTOR and p-mTOR in response to RagD overexpression was inhibited by inhibiting Raptor.In conclusion, our study showed that RagD is an important activation factor of mTORC1 in CMECs, activating AA-mediated casein synthesis and cell proliferation, potentially acting via Raptor.


1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 773-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
S E Fenton ◽  
L G Sheffield

We have previously shown that lactogenic hormones stimulate epidermal growth factor (EGF) mRNA accumulation in mouse mammary glands in vivo and in mouse mammary epithelial cells (NMuMG line). However, our in vitro studies indicate that the lactogenic hormone prolactin (PRL) completely inhibits EGF-stimulated DNA synthesis. PRL does not alter cholera toxin or insulin-like growth factor-1-stimulated cell growth, thus the inhibition appears to be specific for EGF. Our current studies are designed to evaluate the effects of PRL on EGF-stimulated signaling events in the NMuMG cell line. Cells treated with PRL for 30 min demonstrated a loss of high affinity EGF-binding ability. After long-term PRL treatment (18 h) there was a decrease in EGF receptor (R) number, as determined by [125I]EGF binding. PRL treatment (8 h) also decreased EGF-R mRNA levels. An EGF-stimulated increase in EGF-R mRNA observed 2-4 h after treatment was decreased when PRL was added to the cultures. Furthermore, levels of EGF-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of the EGF-R (170 kDa) and phospholipase C gamma (145 kDa) are dramatically decreased in cells treated with PRL. Also of great interest was a decrease in EGF-stimulated c-myc mRNA in PRL-treated cells. We conclude that PRL is acting to down-regulate the EGF-R, thus limiting EGF-stimulated cell signaling in mammary tissue.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document