Keeping abreast of the mammary epithelial hierarchy and breast tumorigenesis.

By Jane E. Visvader. Genes & Development, 2009

623 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The epithelium of the mammary gland exists in a highly dynamic state, undergoing dramatic morphogenetic changes during puberty, pregnancy, lactation, and regression. The recent identification of stem and progenitor populations in mouse and human mammary tissue has provided evidence that the mammary epithelium is organized in a hierarchical manner. Characterization of these normal epithelial subtypes is an important step toward understanding which cells are predisposed to oncogenesis. This review summarizes progress in the field toward defining constituent cells and key molecular regulators of the mammary epithelial hierarchy. Potential relationships between normal epithelial populations and breast tumor subtypes are discussed, with implications for understanding the cellular etiology underpinning breast tumor heterogeneity.

Subfields: Molecular Biology, Oncology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f82a7038997c35e1f3b9deb520d12fc907405750

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Molecular Biology

1. R. Weinberg
2. Zena Werb
3. T. Shibue
4. M. Wicha
5. K. Kessenbrock
6. Shalev Itzkovitz
7. C. Blanpain
8. J. Rock

In Oncology

1. R. Weinberg
2. Zena Werb
3. Suling Liu
4. T. Shibue
5. Wenjun Guo
6. M. Wicha
7. K. Kessenbrock
8. Ferenc Reinhardt

Citations in the corpus

• Airway basal stem cells: a perspective on their roles in epithelial homeostasis and remodeling (2010, background): “The Notch signaling pathway regulates adult stem cells in a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate systems, including the skin, mammary gland, nervous system and gut (Blanpain et al., 2006; Ohlstein and Spradling, 2007; Visvader, 2009; Mazzone et al., 2010).”
• Breast Cancer Stem Cells Transition between Epithelial and Mesenchymal States Reflective of their Normal Counterparts (2013, background): “When used in combination, these markers identify four populations in the human mammary gland: EPCAM+CD49f epithelial cells, EPCAM+CD49f+ luminal progenitor cells, EPCAM CD49f+ stem cells, and EPCAM CD49f stromal cells (Visvader, 2009).”
• Distinct stem cells contribute to mammary gland development and maintenance (2011, background): “Whereas alveoli and luminal cells secrete the water and nutriments, the myoepithelial cells, through their contraction, guide the circulation of the milk throughout the ductal tre”
• Slug and Sox9 Cooperatively Determine the Mammary Stem Cell State (2012, background): “…Center, Houston, TX 77054, USA 7Present address: Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA *Correspondence: weinberg@wi.mit.edu DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2012.02.008”
• Distinct EMT programs control normal mammary stem cells and tumour-initiating cells (2015, neutral): “However, on the basis of the present work, we propose that the prognostic power of SLUG expression may be due in large part to its strong association with basal differentiation, which is, on its own, a well-known feature of aggressive breast cancers 16 .”
• Diverse regulation of mammary epithelial growth and branching morphogenesis through noncanonical Wnt signaling (2017, background): “T mammary gland is composed of a highly dynamic epithelial structure that undergoes multiple rounds of remodeling during puberty, pregnancy, lactation, and involution (1).”