© 2011 • 325 pp., illus. (54 color, 5 b/w), index
Hardcover • $135 • ISBN  978-0-879699-06-2

Studies of mammary gland biology are essential in the fight against breast cancer. Moreover, the mammary gland represents an excellent model system for investigation of physiological and pathological processes that occur throughout the body. The branching morphogenesis that occurs during puberty and the alveogenesis processes during pregnancy, for example, recapitulate steps that occur in many tissues during embryogenesis and are also relevant to tumor invasion and metastasis. Similarly, analyses of breast cancer progression and the cell types that contribute to it yield findings applicable not only to breast cancer but widely to other cancers as well.

Written and edited by experts in the field, this volume reviews our understanding of mammary gland development, physiology, and tumor formation, emphasizing the value of the organ as a model system. The contributors examine the roles of hormones, growth factors, oncogenes, and the extracellular matrix in normal development and cancer. In addition, they discuss the nature of the mammary gland stem cell population and review the gene expression programs activated and chromatin modifications that occur as the different cell lineages present differentiate.

The book also contains chapters covering the many experimental approaches that have been used in this field, including transplantation, genetic engineering, RNA interference and genomics, three dimensional culture models, and live cell imaging. It will thus be of interest to all researchers working in cell, developmental, and cancer biology, as well as those focused specifically on mammary gland biology and breast cancer.

Preface

 

SECTION I: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Of Mice and Women: A Short History of Mouse Mammary Cancer Research with an Emphasis on the Paradigms Inspired by the Transplantation Method

Daniel Medina

A Compendium of the Mouse Mammary Tumor Biologist: From the Initial Observations in the House Mouse to the Development of Genetically Engineered Mice

Robert D. Cardiff and Nicholas Kenney

Choosing a Mouse Model: Experimental Biology in Context—The Utility and Limitations of Mouse Models of Breast Cancer

Alexander D. Borowsky

 

 

SECTION II: STEM CELLS

Murine Mammary Epithelial Stem Cells: Discovery, Function, and Current Status

Jane E. Visvader and Gilbert H. Smith

Stem Cells in the Human Breast

Ole William Petersen and Kornelia Polyak

 

 

SECTION III: SIGNALING

Hormone Action in the Mammary Gland

Cathrin Brisken and Bert O’Malley

Mammary Gland Growth Factors: Roles in Normal Development and in Cancer

Nancy E. Hynes and Christine J. Watson

Cell–Matrix Interactions in Mammary Gland Development and Breast Cancer

John Muschler and Charles H. Streuli

Mammary Gland ECM Remodeling, Stiffness, and Mechanosignaling in Normal Development and Tumor Progression

Pepper Schedin and Patricia J. Keely

Oncogene and Tumor Suppressor Genes

Eva Y.H.P. Lee and William B. Muller

 

 

SECTION IV: MAMMARY GLAND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND CANCER

The Role of the Microenvironment in Mammary Gland Development and Cancer

Kornelia Polyak and Raghu Kalluri

Molecular Mechanisms Guiding Embryonic Mammary Gland Development

Pamela Cowin and John Wysolmerski

TGF-β Biology in Mammary Development and Breast Cancer

Harold Moses and Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff

Mammary Gland Reprogramming: Metalloproteinases Couple Form with Function

Rama Khokha and Zena Werb

Leukocytes in Mammary Development and Cancer

Lisa M. Coussens and Jeffrey W. Pollard

Systems Biology and Genomics of Breast Cancer

Charles M. Perou and Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale

Using Functional Genetics to Understand Breast Cancer Biology

Alan Ashworth and Rene Bernards

Chromatin Remodeling in Mammary Gland Differentiation and Breast Tumorigenesis

Tim H.-M. Huang and Manel Esteller

In Vivo Imaging in Cancer

John Condeelis and Ralph Weissleder

Afterword

Index