Mammary Stromal Effects on Epithelial Differentiation and Expression of ESX and ErbB2

摘要

A novel system for studying growth of normal human mammary epithelium in vivo as grafts in athymic nude mice has been developed. The key feature of this mode is the reconstitution of the epithelial-stromal interactions that occur in the normal human breast. This model has been used to demonstrate the ability of carcinoma associated fibroblasts to cause abnormal growth of normal human mammary epithelium. The renal grafting technique has also been used to study tumor growth and tumor inhibition.