A Vulnerability in Stem Cells that Breast Cancer Cells May Share (IMAGE)
Caption
Researchers have discovered that a chromatin-regulating protein called BPTF must be present for stem cells in the breast to perform their normal functions -- maintaining a supply of stem cells and seeding the breast with specialized new cells when needed, for instance, during pregnancy. At the mouse equivalent of mid-pregnancy, there is normally (left side) a proliferation of milk ducts (the small purple structures in both images). When BPTF is knocked out in mouse mammary stem cells early in pregnancy, however, there is a drastic decline in the number ductal structures (right side). Dos Santos and colleagues suggests that knocking out BPTF in breast cancer cells could suppress or kill them.
Credit
Dos Santos Lab, CSHL
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