The influence of tamoxifen on normal mouse mammary gland homeostasis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Lineage tracing using inducible genetic labeling has emerged to be a powerful method for interrogating the developmental fate of cells in intact tissues. A common induction mechanism is the use of tamoxifen-dependent Cre recombinase (CreER and CreERT2), but the effects of tamoxifen at doses normally used in lineage-tracing studies on normal adult mammary gland homeostasis are not known.

Methods

We used flow cytometry and immunostaining of intact glands to determine whether varying doses of tamoxifen skew the distribution and the apoptosis and proliferation status of different types of mammary epithelial cells in vivo. We also examined how tamoxifen influences the number of progenitor and mammary repopulating units (MRUs).

Results

Our results indicate that

SUBMITTER: Shehata M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4303226 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature