TY - JOUR
T1 - Left-right analysis of mammary gland development in retinoid X receptor α+/- mice
AU - Robichaux, Jacqulyne P.
AU - Fuseler, John W.
AU - Patel, Shrusti S.
AU - Kubalak, Steven W.
AU - Hartstone-Rose, Adam
AU - Ramsdell, Ann F.
N1 - Funding Information:
J.P.R. was supported by a Southern Regional Education Board Scholar Award. S.S.P. was supported by a USC Science Undergraduate Research Fellowship and is a USC Magellan Scholar and A.F.R. was supported by NIH NIH Clinical Center K02HL086737. The work was supported by NIH Clinical CenterNIHP20GM103499, NIH R21HD068993 and a USC School of Medicine Research and Development Fund Award and conducted, in part, in facilities supported by Cancer Center Support Grant NIHP30CA138313 to the Hollings Cancer Center, MUSC.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/12/19
Y1 - 2016/12/19
N2 - Left-right (L-R) differences in mammographic parenchymal patterns are an early predictor of breast cancer risk; however, the basis for this asymmetry is unknown.Here,we use retinoid X receptor alpha heterozygous null (RXRα+/-) mice to propose a developmental origin: perturbation of coordinated anterior-posterior (A-P) and L-R axial body patterning. We hypothesized that by analogy to somitogenesis—in which retinoic acid (RA) attenuation causes anterior somite pairs to developL-Rasynchronously—thatRApathwayperturbationwould likewise result in asymmetricmammary development. To test this, mammary glands of RXRα+/- mice were quantitatively assessed to compare left-versus right-side ductal epithelial networks. Unlike wild-type controls, half of theRXRα+/- thoracicmammary gland(TMG) pairs exhibited significant L-R asymmetry,with left-side reduction in network size. InRXRα+/- TMGs in which symmetry wasmaintained, networks had bilaterally increased size, with left networks showing greater variability in area and pattern. Reminiscent of posterior somites, whose bilateral symmetry is refractory to RA attenuation, inguinal mammary glands (IMGs) also had bilaterally increased network size, but no loss of symmetry. Together, these results demonstrate that mammary glands exhibit differential A-P sensitivity to RXRa heterozygosity, with ductal network symmetry markedly compromised in anterior but not posterior glands. As TMGs more closely model human breast development than IMGs, these findings raise the possibility that for some women, breast cancer risk may initiate with subtle axial patterning defects that result in L-R asymmetric growth and pattern of the mammary ductal epithelium. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Provocative questions in left-right asymmetry’.
AB - Left-right (L-R) differences in mammographic parenchymal patterns are an early predictor of breast cancer risk; however, the basis for this asymmetry is unknown.Here,we use retinoid X receptor alpha heterozygous null (RXRα+/-) mice to propose a developmental origin: perturbation of coordinated anterior-posterior (A-P) and L-R axial body patterning. We hypothesized that by analogy to somitogenesis—in which retinoic acid (RA) attenuation causes anterior somite pairs to developL-Rasynchronously—thatRApathwayperturbationwould likewise result in asymmetricmammary development. To test this, mammary glands of RXRα+/- mice were quantitatively assessed to compare left-versus right-side ductal epithelial networks. Unlike wild-type controls, half of theRXRα+/- thoracicmammary gland(TMG) pairs exhibited significant L-R asymmetry,with left-side reduction in network size. InRXRα+/- TMGs in which symmetry wasmaintained, networks had bilaterally increased size, with left networks showing greater variability in area and pattern. Reminiscent of posterior somites, whose bilateral symmetry is refractory to RA attenuation, inguinal mammary glands (IMGs) also had bilaterally increased network size, but no loss of symmetry. Together, these results demonstrate that mammary glands exhibit differential A-P sensitivity to RXRa heterozygosity, with ductal network symmetry markedly compromised in anterior but not posterior glands. As TMGs more closely model human breast development than IMGs, these findings raise the possibility that for some women, breast cancer risk may initiate with subtle axial patterning defects that result in L-R asymmetric growth and pattern of the mammary ductal epithelium. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Provocative questions in left-right asymmetry’.
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Ductal epithelium
KW - Left-right asymmetry
KW - Mammary gland development
KW - Retinoid X receptor-alpha
KW - Symmetry
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U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2015.0416
DO - 10.1098/rstb.2015.0416
M3 - Article
C2 - 27821527
AN - SCOPUS:84994476741
SN - 0962-8436
VL - 371
JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1710
M1 - 20150416
ER -