Comparative aspects of mammary gland development and homeostasis.

Mammary glands are crucial to the reproductive strategy of mammals, and the milk of domesticated ruminants serves as an important source of nutrients for the human population. The majority of mammary gland development occurs postnatally, and the mammary gland undergoes cyclical periods of growth, differentiation, lactation, and regression that are coordinated to provide nutrients for offspring or are driven by strategies to manage reproduction and milk production of domesticated species. Growth and maintenance of the mammary epithelium depends on the function of mammary stem cells and progenitor cells.

Growth and development of the mammary glands of livestock: a veritable barnyard of opportunities.

The mammary glands of all mammals are rich and diverse in their histomorphogenesis, developmental biology, genomics and metabolism. Domesticated livestock comprise a unique population for the analysis of mammary gland and lactation biology, where much of what has been learned about these topics originates from studies of these species. However, with the strong trend toward using rodents as flexible and attractive models for normal mammary biology and cancer, there is a growing void of new information related to biology of the mammary glands in these relevant and informative domestic livestock.

Changes in secretory cell turnover, and mitochondrial oxidative damage in the mouse mammary gland during a single prolonged lactation cycle suggest the possibility of accelerated cellular aging.

Milk synthesis by the mammary gland declines during prolonged lactation despite the continued suckling stimulus and complete removal of mammary secretions. Although this process has been hypothesized to result from cellular aging there has been no reported analysis of aging markers in the lactating mammary gland. The goal of these studies was to relate lactation performance in the mouse during a single prolonged lactation cycle to changes in mammary development and mitochondrial oxidative damage.