Are prolactin and progesterone receptors co-ordinately regulated in the human breast?

孕酮和催乳素通过作用于乳腺上皮细胞层级，包括干/祖细胞活动，来重塑怀孕期间小鼠的乳腺形态。每种激素在小鼠乳腺发育中的作用已经得到了很好的研究，有证据表明孕酮和催乳素之间存在信号串扰。具体地说，关键的局部调节因子，如STAT5、RANKL和ELF5，在乳腺上皮发育过程中受到协调调节。最近的数据表明，孕酮通过诱导旁分泌RANKL信号，是正常人类乳房腔前体群增殖的主要调节因素。然而，目前还没有数据说明催乳素和黄体酮如何协调调节正常的人类乳房发育，这是该项目旨在解决的一个缺陷。

Progesterone and prolactin remodel mouse mammary morphology during pregnancy by acting on the mammary epithelial cell hierarchy including stem/progenitor cell activities. The roles of each hormone in mouse mammary development have been well studied, where evidence of signalling cross-talk between progesterone and prolactin is emerging. Specifically, key local mediators such as STAT5, RANKL and Elf5 are co-ordinately regulated during mammary epithelial development. Recent data demonstrate progesterone to be a major regulator of proliferation in the luminal progenitor population of the normal human breast through induction of paracrine RANKL signalling. However, there are currently no data addressing how prolactin and progesterone co-ordinately regulate normal human breast development, a deficit this project aims to address.