Of mice and women: a comparative tissue biology perspective of breast stem cells and differentiation.
Tissue based research requires a background in human and veterinary pathology, developmental biology, anatomy, as well as molecular and cellular biology. This type of comparative tissue biology (CTB) expertise is necessary to tackle some of the conceptual challenges in human breast stem cell research. It is our opinion that the scarcity of CTB expertise contributed to some erroneous interpretations in tissue based research, some of which are reviewed here in the context of breast stem cells. In this article we examine the dissimilarities between mouse and human mammary tissue and suggest how these may impact stem cell studies. In addition, we consider the differences between breast ducts vs. lobules and clarify how these affect the interpretation of results in stem cell research. Lastly, we introduce a new elaboration of normal epithelial cell types in human breast and discuss how this provides a clinically useful basis for breast cancer classification.
Stem Cell Group, Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit, Research Oncology, King's College London School of Medicine, 3rd Floor Bermondsey Wing, Guy's Hospital, London, SE1 9RT, UK.
Gabriela
G
Dontu
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute, Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute and Department of Pathology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave., Miami, 33136, FL, USA. TInce@med.miami.edu.
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TA
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D000818:Animals; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006654:Histology, Comparative; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis*; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology*
D007633:Keratins
Comparative pathology; Hormone receptors; Mammary gland; Stem cells