Abstract
Although mouse models have provided invaluable information on the mechanisms of mammary gland development, anatomical and developmental differences between human and mice limit full understanding of this fundamental process. Humanization of the mouse mammary gland by injecting immortalized human breast stromal cells into the cleared murine mammary fat pad enables the growth and development of human mammary epithelial cells or tissue. This facilitates the characterization of human mammary gland development or tumorigenesis by utilizing the mouse mammary fat pad. Here we describe the process of isolating human mammary stromal and epithelial cells as well as their introduction into the mammary fat pads of immunocompromised mice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hennighausen L, Robinson GW (2005) Information networks in the mammary gland. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 6(9):715–725
Smith BA, Welm AL, Welm BE (2012) On the shoulders of giants: a historical perspective of unique experimental methods in mammary gland research. Semin Cell Dev Biol 23(5):583–590, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2012.03.005
Gusterson BA, Stein T (2012) Human breast development. Semin Cell Dev Biol 23(5):567–573, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2012.03.013
Parmar H, Cunha GR (2004) Epithelial-stromal interactions in the mouse and human mammary gland in vivo. Endocr Relat Cancer 11(3):437–458
Sheffield LG, Welsch CW (1988) Transplantation of human breast epithelia to mammary-gland-free fat-pads of athymic nude mice: influence of mammotrophic hormones on growth of breast epithelia. Int J Cancer 41(5):713–719
Outzen HC, Custer RP (1975) Growth of human normal and neoplastic mammary tissues in the cleared mammary fat pad of the nude mouse. J Natl Cancer Inst 55(6):1461–1466
Kuperwasser C, Chavarria T, Wu M, Magrane G, Gray JW, Carey L, Richardson A, Weinberg RA (2004) Reconstruction of functionally normal and malignant human breast tissues in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101(14):4966–4971. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401064101
Keller PJ, Arendt LM, Skibinski A, Logvinenko T, Klebba I, Dong S, Smith AE, Prat A, Perou CM, Gilmore H, Schnitt S, Naber SP, Garlick JA, Kuperwasser C (2012) Defining the cellular precursors to human breast cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(8):2772–2777. doi:10.1073/pnas.1017626108
Proia TA, Keller PJ, Gupta PB, Klebba I, Jones AD, Sedic M, Gilmore H, Tung N, Naber SP, Schnitt S, Lander ES, Kuperwasser C (2011) Genetic predisposition directs breast cancer phenotype by dictating progenitor cell fate. Cell Stem Cell 8(2):149–163. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2010.12.007
Proia DA, Kuperwasser C (2006) Reconstruction of human mammary tissues in a mouse model. Nat Protoc 1(1):206–214
Arendt LM, Rudnick JA, Keller PJ, Kuperwasser C (2010) Stroma in breast development and disease. Semin Cell Dev Biol 21(1):11–18. doi:10.1016/j.semcdb.2009.10.003
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media LLC New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Wronski, A., Arendt, L.M., Kuperwasser, C. (2015). Humanization of the Mouse Mammary Gland. In: Vivanco, M. (eds) Mammary Stem Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1293. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2519-3_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2519-3_10
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2518-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2519-3
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols