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Human Mammary Epithelial Stem/Progenitor Cells

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Abstract

Human breast tissue is highly dynamic, undergoing extensive development and differentiation after birth during puberty, pregnancy, and lactation. The ability to sustain the tissue through, potentially, multiple rounds of pregnancies and lactations in a woman’s lifetime suggests the presence of tissue-resident stem/progenitor cells that maintain the two main lineages of the breast epithelium, luminal and basal/myoepithelial cells. Although human breast tissue is functionally similar to the murine mammary gland, structural and developmental differences suggest that the organization and regulation of the epithelial hierarchy in humans may be more complex. Taking cues from studies of mouse and rat mammary gland biology, much research effort has been expended into characterizing the human breast epithelial hierarchy. The use of epithelial cell surface markers coupled with assays to define progenitor activity in vitro and in vivo has greatly expanded our understanding. While the full picture of the human mammary hierarchy is still incomplete, it is instructive for the understanding of heterogeneity in breast cancers and how this may relate to patient treatments and outcomes.

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Abbreviations

ALDH:

Aldehyde dehydrogenase

α-SMA:

Alpha smooth muscle actin

CALLA:

Common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen

CK:

Cytokeratin

EGF:

Epidermal growth factor

EMA:

Epithelial membrane antigen

EpCAM:

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule

ER:

Estrogen receptor

ESA:

Epithelial-specific antigen

HIM:

Human-in-mouse

HMEC:

Human mammary epithelial cell

MaSC:

Mammary stem cell

ME:

Myoepithelial

MRUs:

Mammary repopulating units

MUC1:

Mucin-1

PR:

Progesterone receptor

TDLU:

Terminal ductal lobular unit

TEB:

Terminal end bud

vHMEC:

Variant human mammary epithelial cell

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Acknowledgments

We apologize to the authors whose work we could not cite due to space limitations. This work was supported by grants from the ACS-New England Division-Broadway on Beachside Postdoctoral Fellowship (PK), the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation (PK and CK), the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (CK), the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program (PK, CK), the NIH/NCI (CK, LA), the National Center for Research Resources (LA), and the Breast Cancer Alliance (LA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anatomy and Cellular Biology and Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington Street, Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    Patricia J. Keller Ph.D.

  2. Department of Anatomy, 75 Kneeland Street, Room 14036, Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    Lisa M. Arendt D.V.M., Ph.D.

  3. Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    Charlotte Kuperwasser Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Patricia J. Keller Ph.D.
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  2. Lisa M. Arendt D.V.M., Ph.D.
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  3. Charlotte Kuperwasser Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotte Kuperwasser Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Health Department Wadsworth Center, Albany, New York, USA

    Stewart Sell

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Keller, P.J., Arendt, L.M., Kuperwasser, C. (2013). Human Mammary Epithelial Stem/Progenitor Cells. In: Sell, S. (eds) Stem Cells Handbook. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7696-2_17

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