First published online August 14, 2006
Development 133, 1706e (2006)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
TWEAKing mammary gland apoptosis
Unlike most organs, mammary glands undergo massive changes during adult
life. Epithelial cells proliferate extensively during pregnancy to generate
milk for the offspring. When lactation stops, these cells apoptose and the
gland is remodelled to its resting state (involution). Baxter and co-workers
have been investigating the regulation of involution and, on
p. 3485, they report
that this process can be halted by the conditional deletion of the gene
encoding IKK2 (inhibitor of 
B kinase). This is one of the kinases that
regulate the nuclear factor-B (NF-B) pathway, which controls
many cellular responses, including apoptosis. The researchers report that the
delayed mammary gland apoptosis and remodelling they see in the conditional
mutant is associated with decreased expression of the death receptor ligand
TWEAK, which contains binding sites for both NF-B and FOXO (forkhead
transcription factors) in its promoter region. These new insights into the
control of apoptosis in a physiological situation may provide new therapeutic
approaches to the treatment of breast cancer, suggest the researchers.
Related articles in Development:
- IKKß/2 induces TWEAK and apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells
- Fiona O. Baxter, Paul J. Came, Kathrine Abell, Blandine Kedjouar, Marion Huth, Klaus Rajewsky, Manolis Pasparakis, and Christine J. Watson
Development 2006 133: 3485-3494.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
