title: Regeneration of Bovine Mammary Gland in Immunodeficient Mice by Transplantation of Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells Mixed with Matrigel.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  With the global demand for dairy protein for consumption growing annually, there has been increasing activity in the research field of dairy protein synthesis and production. From a manipulation perspective, it is more difficult to use live cattle for laboratory studies on the production of milk as well as of dairy protein such as casein, as compared with using laboratory animals like rodents. Therefore, we aimed to develop a mouse model of bovine mammary alveolar ducts for laboratory-scale studies. We studied the formation of the bovine mammary gland ductal structure by transplanting the MAC-T bovine alveolar cell line into mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MAC-T cells (1×10⁷) were suspended in Matrigel and injected into the dorsal tissue of 8-week-old male BALB/C nude mice. Histological analysis of tissue dissected from the MAC-T cell-transplanted mice after 6 weeks showed the typical morphology of the tubuloalveolar female gland, as well as glands made up of branching ducts that were surrounded by smooth muscle with small alveoli budding off the ducts. In addition, the epithelial markers CK14 and CK18 were expressed within the duct-like structure. Prolactin was detected in the duct interior in these CK14＋ and CK18＋ cells but not in the non-transplanted MAC-T cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results showed that duct-like tissue had been successfully formed after 6 weeks of transplantation of the CK14＋ and CK18＋ MAC-T cells into mice dorsal tissue. This mouse model will be a useful tool for further research on the bovine mammary gland.
authors: Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, College of Animal Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hyun Jung
authors: HJ
authors: Park
authors: Department of Food Bioscience, Research Institute for Biomedical & Health Science, College of Biomedical & Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea.
authors: Won Young
authors: WY
authors: Lee
authors: Dairy Science Division, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Wanju, Korea.
authors: Ha Yeon
authors: HY
authors: Jeong
authors: Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, College of Animal Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hyuk
authors: H
authors: Song
keywords: BALB/C nude mice; Bovine mammary gland; CK14; CK18; MAC-T cell; Prolactin