Bovine mammary stem cells: cell biology meets production agriculture

• Published in: Animal (Cambridge, England) England), 2012-03, Vol.6 (3), p.382-393
• Main Authors: Capuco, A. V., Choudhary, R. K., Daniels, K. M., Li, R. W., Evock-Clover, C. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult Stem Cells - cytology; Adult Stem Cells - metabolism; Agriculture; animal models; Animals; Cattle - physiology; Cell division; Cell Proliferation; Dairying; DNA; Efficiency; enzyme activity; epithelial cells; Epithelial Cells - cytology; Epithelial Cells - metabolism; epithelium; estrogens; excision; Female; Gene Expression; heifers; humans; label-retaining cells; Lactation; lasers; mammary development; mammary glands; Mammary Glands, Animal - cytology; Mammary Glands, Animal - drug effects; mice; microarray technology; Milk - metabolism; milk yield; mitosis; progenitor cells; receptors; Rodents; Stem cells; stromal cells; Studies; teats; telomerase; tissue repair
• ISSN: 1751-7311; 1751-732X; 1751-732X
• DOI: 10.1017/S1751731111002369

Mammary stem cells (MaSC) provide for net growth, renewal and turnover of mammary epithelial cells, and are therefore potential targets for strategies to increase production efficiency. Appropriate regulation of MaSC can potentially benefit milk yield, persistency, dry period management and tissue repair. Accordingly, we and others have attempted to characterize and alter the function of bovine MaSC. In this review, we provide an overview of current knowledge of MaSC gained from studies using mouse and human model systems and present research on bovine MaSC within that context. Recent data indicate that MaSC retain labeled DNA for extended periods because of their selective segregation of template DNA strands during mitosis. Relying on this long-term retention of bromodeoxyuridine-labeled DNA, we identified putative bovine MaSC. These label-retaining epithelial cells (LREC) are in low abundance within mammary epithelium (