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Progesterone stimulates DNA synthesis and lobulo‐alveolar development in mammary glands in ovariectomized mice
Author(s) -
Plaut Karen,
Maple Rhonda,
Ginsburg Erika,
Vonderhaar Barbara
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of cellular physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 174
eISSN - 1097-4652
pISSN - 0021-9541
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4652(199908)180:2<298::aid-jcp17>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - ovariectomized rat , estrogen , medicine , endocrinology , mammary gland , hormone , priming (agriculture) , prolactin , biology , botany , germination , cancer , breast cancer
The objective of this study was to determine whether sustained progesterone (P) use in the absence of estrogen could influence mammary development in mice. Three‐week‐old intact or ovariectomized mice were primed with subcutaneous (s.c.) cholesterol (C), estrogen (E), P, or estrogen and progesterone (E/P) together. Nine days after priming, mammary glands were removed and incubated as a whole organ in media supplemented with various combinations of lactogenic hormones. After 5 days in whole organ culture, glands were removed and end buds, alveolar buds and lobulo‐alveoli were quantified. Glands from mice primed with C or E developed significantly less lobulo‐alveoli than glands from mice primed with P or E/P. While the development was greater in animals treated with E/P compared to those treated with P, it was clear that P in the absence of E could still induce lobulo‐alveolar development. We have shown in this paper that P, in the absence of E, can stimulate cell proliferation during priming. Subsequently, the P primed glands can differentiate in response to lactogenic hormones. J. Cell. Physiol. 180:298–304, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.