Pleiotrophin (PTN) expression and function and in the mouse mammary gland and mammary epithelial cells.

ABSTRACT: Expression of the heparin-binding growth factor, pleiotrophin (PTN) in the mammary gland has been reported but its function during mammary gland development is not known. We examined the expression of PTN and its receptor ALK (Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase) at various stages of mouse mammary gland development and found that their expression in epithelial cells is regulated in parallel during pregnancy. A 30-fold downregulation of PTN mRNA expression was observed during mid-pregnancy when the mammary gland undergoes lobular-alveolar differentiation. After weaning of pups, PTN expression was restored although baseline expression of PTN was reduced significantly in mammary glands of mice that had undergone multiple pregnancies. We found PTN expressed in epithelial cells of the mammary gland and

SUBMITTER: Rosenfield SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3471873 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature