Cytokine signalling in mammary gland development.
Mammary gland development occurs in three distinct stages during the lifetime of the female mammal: in embryonic, pubertal and reproductive life. At each of these developmental stages, different signalling molecules induce changes in both the epithelium and the surrounding stroma. However, it is during pregnancy that the most dramatic changes occur, resulting in a massive increase in the number of epithelial cells and in their function. Pregnancy initiates the development of a new epithelial lineage, the alveolar cells, which form the milk-producing lobuloalveolar structures. These cells become redundant at the end of lactation and are removed in an exquisitely controlled process of tissue remodelling coupled with extensive cell death. All of these events require not only steroid hormones but also sequential signalling by cytokines. A recent surprising discovery was that the signalling pathways and cytokines that regulate lineage determination in T helper cells are also involved in mammary gland development during pregnancy.
Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK. cjw53@cam.ac.uk
Christine J
CJ
Watson
Carrie H
CH
Oliver
Walid T
WT
Khaled
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*; D058408:Th1-Th2 Balance; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology
D016207:Cytokines; D014157:Transcription Factors