Highway to heaven: mammary gland development and differentiation
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* Corresponding author: Matthew J Smalley matthew.smalley@icr.ac.uk
Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6JB, UK
Breast Cancer Research 2008, 10:305 doi:10.1186/bcr2147
Published: 6 October 2008Abstract
In recent years, the mammary gland epithelium has been shown to be a mixture of differentiated cell populations in a hierarchical relationship with their stem and progenitor cells. However, the mechanisms that regulate their cellular differentiation processes are still unclear. The identification of genes that govern stem and progenitor cell expansion, or that determine daughter cell fate, will be of crucial interest for understanding breast cancer diversity and, ultimately, improving treatment. Two recent analyses have identified some of the key genes that regulate these processes, lighting up the highway to normal mammary gland development.