scholarly journals Chemokine receptors ACKR2 and CCR1 coordinate macrophage dynamics and mammary gland development

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian J Wilson ◽  
Ayumi Fukuoka ◽  
Samantha R Love ◽  
Jiwon Kim ◽  
Marieke Pingen ◽  
...  

AbstractMacrophages are key regulators of developmental processes, including those involved in mammary gland development. We previously demonstrated that the atypical chemokine receptor, ACKR2, contributes to control of ductal epithelial branching in the developing mammary gland by regulating macrophage dynamics. ACKR2 is a chemokine-scavenging receptor, which mediates its effects through collaboration with inflammatory chemokine receptors (iCCRs). Here we reveal that ACKR2, and the iCCR CCR1, reciprocally regulate branching morphogenesis in the mammary gland, whereby stromal ACKR2 modulates levels of the shared ligand CCL7 to control the movement of a key population of CCR1-expressing macrophages to the ductal epithelium. In addition estrogen, which is essential for ductal elongation during puberty, upregulates CCR1 expression on macrophages. The age at which girls develop breasts is decreasing, which raises the risk of diseases including breast cancer. This study presents a previously unknown mechanism controlling the rate of mammary gland development during puberty and highlights potential therapeutic targets.SummaryIn the mammary gland during puberty, availability of the chemokine CCL7 is controlled by a scavenging receptor ACKR2 and provides a key signal to macrophages which have the receptor CCR1. Together, this controls the timing of development.

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1697
Author(s):  
Angelica Avagliano ◽  
Giuseppe Fiume ◽  
Maria Rosaria Ruocco ◽  
Nunzia Martucci ◽  
Eleonora Vecchio ◽  
...  

The stromal microenvironment regulates mammary gland development and tumorigenesis. In normal mammary glands, the stromal microenvironment encompasses the ducts and contains fibroblasts, the main regulators of branching morphogenesis. Understanding the way fibroblast signaling pathways regulate mammary gland development may offer insights into the mechanisms of breast cancer (BC) biology. In fact, the unregulated mammary fibroblast signaling pathways, associated with alterations in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and branching morphogenesis, drive breast cancer microenvironment (BCM) remodeling and cancer growth. The BCM comprises a very heterogeneous tissue containing non-cancer stromal cells, namely, breast cancer-associated fibroblasts (BCAFs), which represent most of the tumor mass. Moreover, the different components of the BCM highly interact with cancer cells, thereby generating a tightly intertwined network. In particular, BC cells activate recruited normal fibroblasts in BCAFs, which, in turn, promote BCM remodeling and metastasis. Thus, comparing the roles of normal fibroblasts and BCAFs in the physiological and metastatic processes, could provide a deeper understanding of the signaling pathways regulating BC dissemination. Here, we review the latest literature describing the structure of the mammary gland and the BCM and summarize the influence of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EpMT) and autophagy in BC dissemination. Finally, we discuss the roles of fibroblasts and BCAFs in mammary gland development and BCM remodeling, respectively.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 774
Author(s):  
Vahid Atashgaran ◽  
Pallave Dasari ◽  
Leigh J. Hodson ◽  
Andreas Evdokiou ◽  
Simon C. Barry ◽  
...  

Female mice heterozygous for a genetic mutation in transcription factor forkhead box p3 (Foxp3) spontaneously develop mammary cancers; however, the underlying mechanism is not well understood. We hypothesised that increased cancer susceptibility is associated with an underlying perturbation in mammary gland development. The role of Foxp3 in mammary ductal morphogenesis was investigated in heterozygous Foxp3Sf/+ and wildtype Foxp3+/+ mice during puberty and at specific stages of the oestrous cycle. No differences in mammary ductal branching morphogenesis, terminal end bud formation or ductal elongation were observed in pubertal Foxp3Sf/+ mice compared with Foxp3+/+ mice. During adulthood, all mice underwent normal regular oestrous cycles. No differences in epithelial branching morphology were detected in mammary glands from mice at the oestrus, metoestrus, dioestrus and pro-oestrus stages of the cycle. Furthermore, abundance of Foxp3 mRNA and protein in the mammary gland and lymph nodes was not altered in Foxp3Sf/+ mice compared with Foxp3+/+ mice. These studies suggest that Foxp3 heterozygosity does not overtly affect mammary gland development during puberty or the oestrous cycle. Further studies are required to dissect the underlying mechanisms of increased mammary cancer susceptibility in Foxp3Sf/+ heterozygous mice and the function of this transcription factor in normal mammary gland development.


2000 ◽  
pp. 257-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Kumar ◽  
R K Vadlamudi ◽  
L Adam

Homeostasis in normal tissue is regulated by a balance between proliferative activity and cell loss by apoptosis. Apoptosis is a physiological mechanism of cell loss that depends on both pre-existing proteins and de novo protein synthesis, and the process of apoptosis is integral to normal mammary gland development and in many diseases, including breast cancer. The mammary gland is one of the few organ systems in mammals that completes its morphologic development postnatally during two discrete physiologic states, puberty and pregnancy. The susceptibility of the mammary gland to tumorigenesis is influenced by its normal development, particularly during stages of puberty and pregnancy that are characterized by marked alterations in breast cell proliferation and differentiation. Numerous epidemiologic studies have suggested that specific details in the development of the mammary gland play a critical role in breast cancer risk. Mammary gland development is characterized by dynamic changes in the expression profiles of Bcl-2 family members. The expression of Bcl-2 family proteins in breast cancer is also influenced by estradiol and by progestin. Since the ratio of proapoptotic to antiapoptotic proteins determines apoptosis or cell survival, hormone levels may have important implications in the therapeutic prevention of breast cancer.


Endocrinology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 156 (10) ◽  
pp. 3442-3450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrin Brisken ◽  
Kathryn Hess ◽  
Rachel Jeitziner

Worldwide, breast cancer incidence has been increasing for decades. Exposure to reproductive hormones, as occurs with recurrent menstrual cycles, affects breast cancer risk, and can promote disease progression. Exogenous hormones and endocrine disruptors have also been implicated in increasing breast cancer incidence. Numerous in vitro studies with hormone-receptor-positive cell lines have provided insights into the complexities of hormone receptor signaling at the molecular level; in vivo additional layers of complexity add on to this. The combined use of mouse genetics and tissue recombination techniques has made it possible to disentangle hormone action in vivo and revealed that estrogens, progesterone, and prolactin orchestrate distinct developmental stages of mammary gland development. The 2 ovarian steroids that fluctuate during menstrual cycles act on a subset of mammary epithelial cells, the hormone-receptor-positive sensor cells, which translate and amplify the incoming systemic signals into local, paracrine stimuli. Progesterone has emerged as a major regulator of cell proliferation and stem cell activation in the adult mammary gland. Two progesterone receptor targets, receptor activator of NfκB ligand and Wnt4, serve as downstream paracrine mediators of progesterone receptor-induced cell proliferation and stem cell activation, respectively. Some of the findings in the mouse have been validated in human ex vivo models and by next-generation whole-transcriptome sequencing on healthy donors staged for their menstrual cycles. The implications of these insights into the basic control mechanisms of mammary gland development for breast carcinogenesis and the possible role of endocrine disruptors, in particular bisphenol A in this context, will be discussed below.


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