The Terminal End Bud: the Little Engine that Could

The mammary gland is one of the most regenerative organs in the body, with the majority of development occurring postnatally and in the adult mammal. Formation of the ductal tree is orchestrated by a specialized structure called the terminal end bud (TEB). The TEB is responsible for the production of mature cell types leading to the elongation of the subtending duct. The TEB is also the regulatory control point for basement membrane deposition, branching, angiogenesis, and pattern formation. While the hormonal control of TEB growth is well characterized, the local regulatory factors are less well understood. Recent studies of pubertal outgrowth and ductal elongation have yielded surprising details in regards to ongoing processes in the TEB. Here we summarize the current understanding of TEB biology, discuss areas of future study, and discuss the use of the TEB as a model for the study of breast cancer.

• Publication year

  2017

• Venue

  Journal of mammary gland biology and neoplasia

• Publication date

  2017-02-06

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1007/s10911-017-9372-0PMID 28168376PMCID 5488158
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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