Regan Joseph L, Smalley Matthew J
Charité Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Wales, CF24 4HQ UK.
NPJ Breast Cancer. 2020 Jul 29;6:32. doi: 10.1038/s41523-020-00175-8. eCollection 2020.
The identification and molecular characterization of cellular hierarchies in complex tissues is key to understanding both normal cellular homeostasis and tumorigenesis. The mammary epithelium is a heterogeneous tissue consisting of two main cellular compartments, an outer basal layer containing myoepithelial cells and an inner luminal layer consisting of estrogen receptor-negative (ER) ductal cells and secretory alveolar cells (in the fully functional differentiated tissue) and hormone-responsive estrogen receptor-positive (ER) cells. Recent publications have used single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis to decipher epithelial cell differentiation hierarchies in human and murine mammary glands, and reported the identification of new cell types and states based on the expression of the luminal progenitor cell marker KIT (c-Kit). These studies allow for comprehensive and unbiased analysis of the different cell types that constitute a heterogeneous tissue. Here we discuss scRNA-seq studies in the context of previous research in which mammary epithelial cell populations were molecularly and functionally characterized, and identified c-Kit progenitors and cell states analogous to those reported in the recent scRNA-seq studies.
识别复杂组织中的细胞层次结构并对其进行分子表征，是理解正常细胞稳态和肿瘤发生的关键。乳腺上皮是一种异质性组织，由两个主要的细胞区室组成，一个外层基底层包含肌上皮细胞，一个内层腔层由雌激素受体阴性（ER）导管细胞和分泌性肺泡细胞（在功能完全分化的组织中）以及激素反应性雌激素受体阳性（ER）细胞组成。最近的出版物使用单细胞RNA测序（scRNA-seq）分析来破译人类和小鼠乳腺中的上皮细胞分化层次结构，并基于腔祖细胞标志物KIT（c-Kit）的表达报告了新细胞类型和状态的识别。这些研究允许对构成异质性组织的不同细胞类型进行全面且无偏倚的分析。在这里，我们在先前研究的背景下讨论scRNA-seq研究，在先前研究中，乳腺上皮细胞群体在分子和功能上进行了表征，并鉴定出了与最近scRNA-seq研究中报道的c-Kit祖细胞和细胞状态类似的细胞。
