The chromatin remodeler DEK promotes proliferation of mammary epithelium and is associated with H3K27me3 epigenetic modifications.

The DEK chromatin remodeling protein was previously shown to confer oncogenic phenotypes to human and mouse mammary epithelial cells using and knockout mouse models. However, its functional role in normal mammary gland epithelium remained unexplored. We developed two novel mouse models to study the role of Dek in normal mammary gland biology .