Analysis of Cell Population Dynamics in Mammary Gland Development and Tumorigenesis

摘要

The mammary gland is made up of two distinct epithelial layers that are derived from a common progenitor. The experiments in this proposal investigate the processes of mammary epithelial cell differentiation during development and tumorigenesis. Using FACS, mammary epithelial cell (MEC) populations from tumors and wildtype tissue were investigated for their outgrowth potential or tumorigenic capacity. We also developed new mouse models and imaging techniques that can be used to identify viable long-surviving cell populations and characterize these cells in real-time in vivo. We are also interested in studying how genes expressed in different mammary epithelial cell populations affect differentiation and tumorigenesis. For these experiments we have developed techniques for viral transduction and transplantation of primary MECs.