Heterogeneity of Human Breast Stem and Progenitor Cells as Revealed by Transcriptional Profiling.

ABSTRACT: During development, the mammary gland undergoes extensive remodeling driven by stem cells. Breast cancers are also hierarchically organized and driven by cancer stem cells characterized by CD44⁺CD24^low/- or aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) expression. These markers identify mesenchymal and epithelial populations both capable of tumor initiation. Less is known about these populations in non-cancerous mammary glands. From RNA sequencing, ALDH⁺ and ALDH^-CD44⁺CD24^- human mammary cells have epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like characteristics, respectively, with some co-expressing ALDH⁺ and CD44⁺CD24^- by flow cytometry. At the single-cell level, these cells have the greatest mammosphere-forming capac

SUBMITTER: Colacino JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5995162 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature