Abstract
Exploring the normal biology and regulation of stem cells has the promise to yield insights into the etiological roots and survival of breast cancer cells. Many studies have supported the existence of a multipotent mammary stem cell that regenerates all aspects of glandular development. However, Van Keymeulen and colleagues (2011) illustrated the presence of lineage-restricted unipotent stem cells that self-renew and collaborate in postnatal mammary development, whereas multipotent stem cells were found only during embryonic mammogenesis. This prompts a re-evaluation of currently accepted mammary stem cell dynamics and conceivably its impact on the evolution of different breast cancer subtypes.
Highlights
Exploring the normal biology and regulation of stem cells has the promise to yield insights into the etiological roots and survival of breast cancer cells
The capacity of the mammary gland for rapid growth and regeneration is attributed to mammary stem cells (MaSCs)
When mammary cells are purified by fluorescenceactivated cell sorting (FACS) using surface markers that segregate luminal (CD24med/+CD49flo/CD29lo) and basal (CD24med/+CD49fhi/CD29hi) cells and are transplanted, basal cells generate robust functional mammary outgrowths whereas luminal cells lack this capacity [3,4]
Summary
Exploring the normal biology and regulation of stem cells has the promise to yield insights into the etiological roots and survival of breast cancer cells. The capacity of the mammary gland for rapid growth and regeneration is attributed to mammary stem cells (MaSCs). Limiting-dilution transplants of cells have demonstrated the capacity of single cells to clonally expand to form a functional mammary gland and self-renew in serial transplants, supporting the existence of a multipotent MaSC [2].
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