scholarly journals Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 5a Mediates Mammary Ductal Branching and Proliferation in the Nulliparous Mouse

Endocrinology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 151 (6) ◽  
pp. 2876-2885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Santos ◽  
Sandra Z. Haslam ◽  
Susan E. Conrad

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat)5a is a critical regulator of mammary gland development. Previous studies have focused on Stat5a’s role in the late pregnant and lactating gland, and although active Stat5a is detectable in mammary epithelial cells in virgin mice, little is known about its role during early mammary gland development. In this report, we compare mammary gland morphology in pubertal and adult nulliparous wild-type and Stat5a−/− mice. The Stat5a-null mammary glands exhibited defects in secondary and side branching, providing evidence that Stat5a regulates these processes. In addition, Stat5a−/− mammary glands displayed an attenuated proliferative response to pregnancy levels of estrogen plus progesterone (E+P), suggesting that it plays an important role in early pregnancy. Finally, we examined one potential mediator of Stat5a’s effects, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL). Stat5a−/− mammary glands were defective in inducing RANKL in response to E+P treatment. In addition, regulation of several reported RANKL targets, including inhibitor of DNA binding 2 (Id2), cyclin D1, and the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21Waf1/Cip1, was altered in Stat5a−/− mammary cells, suggesting that one or more of these proteins mediate the effects of Stat5a in E+P-treated mammary epithelial cells.

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 2302-2311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijun Yi ◽  
Anne Shepard ◽  
Frances Kittrell ◽  
Biserka Mulac-Jericevic ◽  
Daniel Medina ◽  
...  

This study demonstrated, for the first time, the following events related to p19ARFinvolvement in mammary gland development: 1) Progesterone appears to regulate p19ARFin normal mammary gland during pregnancy. 2) p19ARFexpression levels increased sixfold during pregnancy, and the protein level plateaus during lactation. 3) During involution, p19ARFprotein level remained at high levels at 2 and 8 days of involution and then, declined sharply at day 15. Absence of p19ARFin mammary epithelial cells leads to two major changes, 1) a delay in the early phase of involution concomitant with downregulation of p21Cip1and decrease in apoptosis, and 2) p19ARFnull cells are immortal in vivo measured by serial transplantion, which is partly attributed to complete absence of p21Cip1compared with WT cells. Although, p19ARFis dispensable in mammary alveologenesis, as evidenced by normal differentiation in the mammary gland of pregnant p19ARFnull mice, the upregulation of p19ARFby progesterone in the WT cells and the weakness of p21Cip1in mammary epithelial cells lacking p19ARFstrongly suggest that the functional role(s) of p19ARFin mammary gland development is critical to sustain normal cell proliferation rate during pregnancy and normal apoptosis in involution possibly through the p53-dependent pathway.


2003 ◽  
Vol 161 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui-An Wang ◽  
Ratna K. Vadlamudi ◽  
Rozita Bagheri-Yarmand ◽  
Iwan Beuvink ◽  
Nancy E. Hynes ◽  
...  

Although growth factors have been shown to influence mammary gland development, the nature of downstream effectors remains elusive. In this study, we show that the expression of p21-activated kinase (Pak)1, a serine/threonine protein kinase, is activated in mammary glands during pregnancy and lactation. By targeting an ectopic expression of a kinase-dead Pak1 mutant under the control of ovine β-lactoglobulin promoter, we found that the mammary glands of female mice expressing kinase-dead Pak1 transgene revealed incomplete lobuloalveolar development and impaired functional differentiation. The expression of whey acidic protein and β-casein and the amount of activated Stat5 in the nuclei of epithelial cells in transgenic mice were drastically reduced. Further analysis of the underlying mechanisms revealed that Pak1 stimulated β-casein promoter activity in normal mouse mammary epithelial cells and also cooperated with Stat5a. Pak1 directly interacted with and phosphorylated Stat5a at Ser 779, and both COOH-terminal deletion containing Ser 779 of Stat5a and the Ser 779 to Ala mutation completely prevented the ability of Pak1 to stimulate β-casein promoter. Mammary glands expressing inactive Pak1 exhibited a reduction of Stat5a Ser 779 phosphorylation. These findings suggest that Pak1 is required for alveolar morphogenesis and lactation function, and thus, identify novel functions of Pak1 in the mammary gland development.


Oncogene ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1507-1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Wang ◽  
Elena Kudryavtseva ◽  
Irene L Ch'en ◽  
Joshua McCormick ◽  
Tod M Sugihara ◽  
...  

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 671
Author(s):  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Qiong Wu ◽  
Jidan Liu ◽  
Xiaopeng An ◽  
Binyun Cao

MicroRNAs play an essential role in mammary gland development, and involution is a factor that limits lactation. Chi-miR-8516 is one of the validated microRNAs that regulates the expression of STC1 and MMP1, which surge during the involution of the mammary gland. This study aims to explore the direct or indirect regulation of STC1 and MMP1 by chi-miR-8516 and the regulation of chi-miR-8516 by circ-140. In goat mammary epithelial cells, we found that chi-miR-8516 takes circ-140 as a sponge and regulates MMP1 expression by targeting STC1 and promoting the phosphorylation of MAPK. The examination of αs1-/β-casein and lipid showed the modulation of the circ-140/chi-miR-8516/STC1-MMP1 axis in casein secretion and lipid formation, which was regulated by the phosphorylation of mTOR and STAT5. This study illustrates an axis that regulates the synthesis of milk components, and explores the pathways in which the axis participates.


1999 ◽  
Vol 161 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
YN Ilkbahar ◽  
G Thordarson ◽  
IG Camarillo ◽  
F Talamantes

Increasing evidence suggests that GH is important in normal mammary gland development. To investigate this further, we studied the distribution and levels of growth hormone receptor (GHR) and GH-binding protein (GHBP) in the mouse mammary gland. At three weeks of age, the epithelial component of the right fourth inguinal mammary gland of female mice was removed. These animals were then either maintained as virgins until they were killed or they were mated. One group of the mated mice was killed on day 18 of pregnancy and the remaining mated animals were allowed to carry their pups until term and were killed on day 6 of lactation. At the time of death, both the intact left and the de-epithelialized right mammary glands were collected from all three groups. Some of the intact glands served as a source of epithelial cells, free of stroma. The mRNA levels for GHR and GHBP were measured in intact glands, epithelia-cleared fat pads, and isolated mammary epithelial cells. GHR and GHBP mRNAs were expressed in both the mammary epithelium and stroma. However, the levels of both GHR and GHBP mRNAs were significantly higher in the stroma as compared with the epithelium component. This increase for both mRNAs was from 3- to 12-fold at each physiological state examined. In the intact gland, both GHR and GHBP transcripts were highest in virgins, declined during late pregnancy, and the lowest levels were found in the lactating gland. GHBP and GHR protein concentrations were also assessed in intact glands and epithelia-free fat pads. Similar to the mRNAs, GHR and GHBP protein levels (means+/-s.e.m.) in intact glands were highest in virgin mice (0.891+/-0.15 pmoles/mg protein and 0.136+/-0.26 pmoles/mg protein respectively), declined during late pregnancy (0. 354+/-0.111 pmoles/mg protein and 0.178+/-0.039 pmoles/mg protein respectively), and were lowest during lactation (0.096+0.037 pmoles/mg protein and 0.017+0.006 pmoles/mg protein respectively). Immunocytochemistry utilizing specific antisera against mouse (m) GHR and mGHBP revealed that the two proteins are localized to both the stroma and parenchyma of mouse mammary glands, with similar patterns of immunostaining throughout the different physiological stages analyzed. GHR immunolocalized to the plasma membrane and cytosol of mammary epithelial cells and adipocytes, whereas the GHBP immunostaining was nuclear and cytosolic. In conclusion, we report here that GHR and GHBP mRNAs and proteins are expressed in both the epithelium and the stroma of mammary glands of virgin, pregnant, and lactating mice. In intact glands, GHR and GHBP proteins, as well as their transcripts are higher in abundance in virgin relative to lactating mice. At all physiological stages, GHR and GHBP mRNA levels are higher in the stroma compared with the parenchyma. These findings indicate that the actions of GH in the mammary gland are both direct through its binding to the epithelia, and indirect by binding to the stroma and stimulation of IGF-I production which, in turn, affects mammary epithelial development.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (12) ◽  
pp. 2997-3008
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Minter ◽  
Ellen S. Dickinson ◽  
Stephen P. Naber ◽  
D. Joseph Jerry

The tumor suppressor gene, TP53, plays a major role in surveillance and repair of radiation-induced DNA damage. In multiple cell types, including mammary epithelial cells, abrogation of p53 (encoded by Trp53) function is associated with increased tumorigenesis. We examined γ-irradiated BALB/c-Trp53+/+ and -Trp53–/– female mice at five stages of post-natal mammary gland development to determine whether radiation-induced p53 activity is developmentally regulated. Our results show that p53-mediated responses are attenuated in glands from irradiated virgin and lactating mice, as measured by induction of p21/WAF1 (encoded by Cdkn1a) and apoptosis, while irradiated early- and mid-pregnancy glands exhibit robust p53 activity. There is a strong correlation between p53-mediated apoptosis and the degree of cellular proliferation, independent of the level of differentiation. In vivo, proliferation is intimately influenced by steroid hormones. To determine whether steroid hormones directly modulate p53 activity, whole organ cultures of mammary glands were induced to proliferate using estrogen plus progesterone or epidermal growth factor plus transforming growth factor-α and p53 responses to γ-irradiation were measured. Regardless of mitogens used, proliferating mammary epithelial cells show comparable p53 responses to γ-irradiation, including expression of nuclear p53 and p21/WAF1 and increased levels of apoptosis, compared to non-proliferating irradiated control cultures. Our study suggests that differences in radiation-induced p53 activity during post-natal mammary gland development are influenced by the proliferative state of the gland, and may be mediated indirectly by the mitogenic actions of steroid hormones in vivo.


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