Source
Laboratory of Genetics and Physiology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. lotharh@amb.niddk.nih.gov
Abstract
Unique developmental features during puberty, pregnancy, lactation and post-lactation make the mammary gland a prime object to explore genetic circuits that control the specification, proliferation, differentiation, survival and death of cells. Steroids and simple peptide hormones initiate and carry out complex developmental programmes, and reverse genetics has been used to define the underlying mechanistic connections.