Kinetics of milk lipid droplet transport, growth, and secretion revealed by intravital imaging: lipid droplet release is intermittently stimulated by oxytocin.

ABSTRACT: The lipid droplet (LD) fraction of milk has attracted special attention because it supplies preformed lipids for neonatal development, and the assembled LDs are secreted by a unique apocrine mechanism. Because many aspects of this key process remain uncharacterized, we developed a facile method for the intravital imaging of mammary cells in transgenic mice that express fluorescently tagged marker proteins. Using these techniques, we describe the first kinetic analysis of LD growth and secretion at peak lactation in real time. LD transit from basal to apical regions was slow (0-2 μm/min) and frequently intermittent. Droplets grew by the fusion of preexisting droplets, with no restriction on the size of fusogenic partners. Most droplet expansion took several hours and occurred in apical nucl

SUBMITTER: Masedunskas A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5385942 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature