This article is part of a series on Key stages of mammary gland development, edited by Charles Streuli.

Review

Key stages in mammary gland development. Secretory activation in the mammary gland: it's not just about milk protein synthesis!

Steven M Anderson^1,2 , Michael C Rudolph³ , James L McManaman^2,3,4 and Margaret C Neville^3,4

¹  Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, East 17th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA

²  Program in Molecular Biology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, East 17th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA

³  Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, East 17th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA

⁴  Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, East 17th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA

author email corresponding author email

Breast Cancer Research 2007, 9:204doi:10.1186/bcr1653

Published:	28 February 2007

Abstract

The transition from pregnancy to lactation is a critical event in the survival of the newborn since all the nutrient requirements of the infant are provided by milk. While milk contains numerous components, including proteins, that aid in maintaining the health of the infant, lactose and milk fat represent the critical energy providing elements of milk. Much of the research to date on mammary epithelial differentiation has focused upon expression of milk protein genes, providing a somewhat distorted view of alveolar differentiation and secretory activation. While expression of milk protein genes increases during pregnancy and at secretory activation, the genes whose expression is more tightly regulated at this transition are those that regulate lipid biosynthesis. The sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) family of transcription factors is recognized as regulating fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthesis. We propose that SREBP1 is a critical regulator of secretory activation with regard to lipid biosynthesis, in a manner that responds to diet, and that the serine/threonine protein kinase Akt influences this process, resulting in a highly efficient lipid synthetic organ that is able to support the nutritional needs of the newborn.