A paracrine role for the epithelial progesterone receptor in mammary gland development
Open Access
- 28 April 1998
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 95 (9), 5076-5081
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.9.5076
Abstract
Recently generated progesterone receptor (PR)-negative (PR−/−) mice provide an excellent model for dissecting the role of progesterone in the development of the mammary gland during puberty and pregnancy. However, the full extent of the mammary gland defect in these mice caused by the absence of the PR cannot be assessed, because PR−/− mice do not exhibit estrous cycles and fail to become pregnant. To circumvent this difficulty, we have transplanted PR−/− breasts into wild-type mice, and we have demonstrated that the development of the mammary gland in the absence of the PR is arrested at the stage of the simple ductal system found in the young virgin mouse. Mammary transplants lacking the PR in the stromal compartment give rise to normal alveolar growth, whereas transplants containing PR−/− epithelium conserve the abnormal phenotype. Chimeric epithelia in which PR−/− cells are in close vicinity to PR wild-type cells go through complete alveolar development to which the PR−/− cells contribute. Together, these results indicate that progesterone acts by a paracrine mechanism on a subset of mammary epithelial cells to allow for alveolar growth and that expression of the PR is not required in all the cells of the mammary epithelium in order for alveolar development to proceed normally.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Mammary Gland Development Is Mediated by Both Stromal and Epithelial Progesterone ReceptorsMolecular Endocrinology, 1997
- Mice lacking progesterone receptor exhibit pleiotropic reproductive abnormalities.Genes & Development, 1995
- Differential temporal and spatial gene expression of fibroblast growth factor family members during mouse mammary gland developmentMolecular Endocrinology, 1994
- Tyrosine kinase receptors in the control of epithelial growth and morphogenesis during developmentBioEssays, 1993
- RAG-1-deficient mice have no mature B and T lymphocytesCell, 1992
- Promoter traps in embryonic stem cells: a genetic screen to identify and mutate developmental genes in mice.Genes & Development, 1991
- New mammary epithelial and fibroblastic cell clones in coculture form structures competent to differentiate functionally.The Journal of cell biology, 1989
- Transplanted mammary epithelium grows in association with host stroma: Aging of serially transplanted mammary gland is intrinsic to epithelial cellsMechanisms of Ageing and Development, 1983
- Regression of mouse mammary gland anlagen in recombinants of Tfm and wild-type tissues: testosterone acts via the mesenchymeCell, 1977
- Growth of Mouse Mammary Glands in vivo after Monolayer CultureScience, 1965