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Autocrine regulation of mammary cell differentiation

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Summary

Milk secretion and mammary function in dairy animals are regulated by local mechanisms sensitive to the frequency or efficiency of milking. Acute local control of milk secretion occurs through autocrine feedback inhibition by a milk protein. Sustained changes in milking frequency and milk secretion are associated with longer-term adaptations in the degree of differentiation and, ultimately, the number of mammary epithelial cells. Differentiation of cultured mammary cells is suppressed by a milk fraction containing the inhibitor, suggesting that intra-mammary regulation of differentiation in vivo is elicited by the same autocrine regulator subsequent to its acute effect on milk secretion. The autocrine factor may affect mammary cell differentiation by modulating the number of cell surface hormone receptors for prolactin, thereby changing their sensitivity to circulating hormones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Director's Research Group, Hannah Research Institute, KA6 5HL, Ayr, Scotland

    C. J. Wilde, C. H. Knight, C. V. P. Addey, D. R. Blatchford, M. Travers, C. N. Bennett & M. Peaker

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  1. C. J. Wilde
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  2. C. H. Knight
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  3. C. V. P. Addey
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  4. D. R. Blatchford
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  5. M. Travers
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  6. C. N. Bennett
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  7. M. Peaker
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Dedicated to Professor Stuart Patton on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

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Wilde, C.J., Knight, C.H., Addey, C.V.P. et al. Autocrine regulation of mammary cell differentiation. Protoplasma 159, 112–117 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01322594

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01322594

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