PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Woodward, Wendy A.
AU  - Chen, Mercy S.
AU  - Behbod, Fariba
AU  - Rosen, Jeffrey M.
TI  - On mammary stem cells
AID  - 10.1242/jcs.02532
DP  - 2005 Aug 15
TA  - Journal of Cell Science
PG  - 3585--3594
VI  - 118
IP  - 16
4099  - http://jcs.biologists.org/content/118/16/3585.short
4100  - http://jcs.biologists.org/content/118/16/3585.full
SO  - J. Cell Sci.2005 Aug 15; 118
AB  - Mammary gland stem cells are a quiescent and self-renewing population within the mammary gland that are capable of giving rise to the differentiated ductal, alveolar and myoepithelial cells. To identify mammary gland stem cells, several investigators have employed a variety of methods including: non-adherent mammosphere cultures; 5-bromo-2-deoxy-uridine (BrdU) label-retention studies; cell-surface markers, such as Sca1 and CD49f; and Hoechst dye efflux. These methods have helped identify and further characterize signal transduction pathways such as the Notch, Wnt and Hedgehog pathways that may be important for the self-renewal and fate determination of mammary gland stem cells. Stem cells within the mammary gland have been proposed to underpin many types of breast cancer. A better understanding of the signal transduction pathways and the molecules that are responsible for the self-renewal and survival of these cells will be essential in the design of more effective therapies aimed at the eradication of both cancer-initiating cells and breast cancer stem cells.