title: Immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cells express stem cell markers and differentiate in vitro.
abstract: The bovine mammary epithelial cell is a secretory cell, and its cell number and secretory activity determine milk production. In this study, we immortalized a bovine mammary epithelial cell line by SV40 large T antigen gene using a retrovirus based on Chinese Holstein primary mammary epithelial cells (CMEC) cultured in vitro. An immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cell line surpassed the 50-passage mark and was designated the CMEC-H. The immortalized mammary epithelial cells grew in close contact with each other and exhibited the typical cobblestone morphology characteristic with obvious boundaries. The telomerase expression of CMEC-H has consistently demonstrated the presence of telomerase activity as an immortalized cell line, but the cell line never induced tumor formation in nude mice. CMEC-H expressed epithelial (cytokeratins CK7, CK8, CK18, and CK19), mesenchymal (vimentin), and stem/progenitor (CD44 and p63) cell markers. The induced expression of milk proteins, αS1 -casein, β-casein, κ-casein, and butyrophilin, indicated that CMEC-H maintained the synthesis function of the mammary epithelial cells. The established immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cell line CMEC-H is capable of self-renewal and differentiation and can serve as a valuable reagent for studying the physiological mechanism of the mammary gland.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture-Milk Risk Assessment Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.|Institute of Apicultural Research/Key laboratory of Pollinating Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture-Milk Risk Assessment Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Apicultural Research/Key laboratory of Pollinating Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Haina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Apicultural Research/Key laboratory of Pollinating Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Wenting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Apicultural Research/Key laboratory of Pollinating Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yangdong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Apicultural Research/Key laboratory of Pollinating Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Songli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Apicultural Research/Key laboratory of Pollinating Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Jiaqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002364:Caseins / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D019070:Cell Lineage; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008892:Milk; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002364:Caseins; D019098:Telomerase
keywords: bovine mammary epithelial cell; differentiation; immortalization; stem cell