Transcriptional repressor Tbx3 is required for the hormone-sensing cell lineage in mammary epithelium.

ABSTRACT: The transcriptional repressor Tbx3 is involved in lineage specification in several tissues during embryonic development. Germ-line mutations in the Tbx3 gene give rise to Ulnar-Mammary Syndrome (comprising reduced breast development) and Tbx3 is required for mammary epithelial cell identity in the embryo. Notably Tbx3 has been implicated in breast cancer, which develops in adult mammary epithelium, but the role of Tbx3 in distinct cell types of the adult mammary gland has not yet been characterized. Using a fluorescent reporter knock-in mouse, we show that in adult virgin mice Tbx3 is highly expressed in luminal cells that express hormone receptors, and not in luminal cells of the alveolar lineage (cells primed for milk production). Flow cytometry identified Tbx3 expression already in prog

SUBMITTER: Kunasegaran K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4208772 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature