Investigating molecular mechanisms of embryonic mammary gland development by bead-implantation in embryonic flank explant cultures - a protocol.

The involvement of molecular mechanisms in a particular process such as embryonic mammary gland development, can be revealed by modulation of one or several factors that purportedly act in that process. If those factors or their inhibitors are soluble, their function can be tested by loading them onto small inert beads, which are then implanted in cultured explants of the tissue of interest, in this case embryonic flanks. We here describe a protocol for such experiments.