Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK.
J Reprod Immunol. 2011 Mar;88(2):124-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jri.2010.11.006. Epub 2011 Jan 20.
Mammary gland development occurs in three distinct stages during the lifetime of the female mammal: in embryonic, pubertal and reproductive life. At each of these developmental stages, different signalling molecules induce changes in both the epithelium and the surrounding stroma. However, it is during pregnancy that the most dramatic changes occur, resulting in a massive increase in the number of epithelial cells and in their function. Pregnancy initiates the development of a new epithelial lineage, the alveolar cells, which form the milk-producing lobuloalveolar structures. These cells become redundant at the end of lactation and are removed in an exquisitely controlled process of tissue remodelling coupled with extensive cell death. All of these events require not only steroid hormones but also sequential signalling by cytokines. A recent surprising discovery was that the signalling pathways and cytokines that regulate lineage determination in T helper cells are also involved in mammary gland development during pregnancy.
胚胎期、青春期和生殖期。在这些发育阶段中的每一个阶段，不同的信号分子都会诱导上皮组织和周围基质发生变化。然而，正是在怀孕期间发生了最显著的变化，导致上皮细胞数量和功能的大量增加。怀孕启动了新的上皮谱系的发育，即肺泡细胞，形成产奶的小叶-腺泡结构。这些细胞在哺乳期结束时变得多余，并在与广泛细胞死亡相关的组织重塑的精细控制过程中被清除。所有这些事件不仅需要类固醇激素，还需要细胞因子的顺序信号传递。最近一个令人惊讶的发现是，调节辅助性 T 细胞谱系决定的信号通路和细胞因子也参与了怀孕期间的乳腺发育。
