| First Author | George AL | Year | 2017 |
| Journal | J Cell Sci | Volume | 130 |
| Issue | 12 | Pages | 2018-2025 |
| PubMed ID | 28455412 | Mgi Jnum | J:249942 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5922254 | Doi | 10.1242/jcs.200030 |
| Citation | George AL, et al. (2017) In vivo reprogramming of non-mammary cells to an epithelial cell fate is independent of amphiregulin signaling. J Cell Sci 130(12):2018-2025 |
| abstractText | Amphiregulin (AREG)-/- mice demonstrate impaired mammary development and form only rudimentary ductal epithelial trees; however, AREG-/- glands are still capable of undergoing alveologenesis and lactogenesis during pregnancy. Transplantation of AREG-/- mammary epithelial cells into cleared mouse mammary fat pads results in a diminished capacity for epithelial growth ( approximately 15%) as compared to that of wild-type mammary epithelial cells. To determine whether estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha, also known as ESR1) and/or AREG signaling were necessary for non-mammary cell redirection, we inoculated either ERalpha-/- or AREG-/- mammary cells with non-mammary progenitor cells (WAP-Cre/Rosa26LacZ+ male testicular cells or GFP-positive embryonic neuronal stem cells). ERalpha-/- cells possessed a limited ability to grow or reprogram non-mammary cells in transplanted mammary fat pads. AREG-/- mammary cells were capable of redirecting both types of non-mammary cell populations to mammary phenotypes in regenerating mammary outgrowths. Transplantation of fragments from AREG-reprogrammed chimeric outgrowths resulted in secondary outgrowths in six out of ten fat pads, demonstrating the self-renewing capacity of the redirected non-mammary cells to contribute new progeny to chimeric outgrowths. Nestin was detected at the leading edges of developing alveoli, suggesting that its expression may be essential for lobular expansion. |
