Signalling Pathways Implicated in Early Mammary Gland Morphogenesis and Breast Cancer

Specification of mammary epithelial cell fate occurs during embryogenesis as cells aggregate to form the mammary anlage. Within the embryonic mammary bud, a population of epithelial cells exists that will subsequently proliferate to form a ductal tree filling the stromal compartment, and which can produce milk upon terminal differentiation after birth. Subsequently, these structures can be remodelled and returned to a basal state after weaning before regenerating in future pregnancies. The plasticity of the mammary epithelial cell, and its responsiveness to hormone receptors, facilitates this amazing biological feat, but aberrant signalling may also result in unintended consequences in the form of frequent malignancies. Reflecting this intimate connection, a considerable number of signalling pathways have been implicated in both mammary gland morphogenesis and carcinogenesis.

• Publication year

  2006

• Venue

  PLoS Genetics

• Publication date

  2006-08-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1371/journal.pgen.0020112PMID 16933995PMCID 1557774
• 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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