Targeting distinct apoptotic pathways in mammary gland involution

细胞生长和分裂以产生更多的细胞。在胚胎的生长过程中，某些细胞必须被移除，以便在成年动物中发挥正常功能。一个有趣的例子是肢体发育。鸭子有带蹼的脚，但人类胚胎在出生前也有带蹼的手指和脚趾。手指之间的皮肤细胞通过诱导它们死亡而被移除。这是一个正常的过程。然而，有时事情会出错，要么是太多的细胞，要么是错误的细胞类型。偶尔也会在复制细胞DNA时出错，这可能会导致癌症的发展。为了消除这个问题，并去除不再需要的正常细胞，所有细胞都获得了通过激活一系列步骤杀死自己的能力，这些步骤导致细胞的成分被分解并包装成小碎片。这些细胞碎片随后被吞噬细胞吞噬，吞噬细胞的工作是清除死细胞和碎片，以防止对周围组织的进一步损害。这被称为程序性细胞死亡或凋亡。细胞凋亡在哺乳期乳房中非常重要，当婴儿断奶并且不再需要母乳喂养时，需要细胞凋亡来去除产奶细胞。我们一直在研究乳腺细胞中发生的凋亡事件以及这些事件是如何控制的。我们已经发现，转录因子Stat6，它结合到DNA诱导特定基因的转录，是启动细胞凋亡的重要。在这个项目中，我们的目标是确定由Stat6控制的基因，以及它们如何参与杀死乳腺细胞。

Cells grow and divide to produce more cells. During growth of an embryo, certain cells have to be removed for proper function in the adult animal. An interesting example is seen in limb development. Ducks have webbed feet but human embryos also have webbed fingers and toes before they are born. The skin cells between the digits is removed by inducing them to die. This is a normal process. However, sometimes things go wrong and either too many cells, or the wrong type of cells, are made. Occasionally also, mistakes are made in copying the cell's DNA and this could cause cancer to develop. In order to eliminate this problem, and to remove normal cells that are no longer required, all cells have acquired the ability to kill themselves by activating a series of steps that result in the components of the cell being dismantled and packaged into small fragments. This cellular debris is then eaten up, or engulfed, by professional phagocytes whose job is to remove dead cells and clear away debris to prevent further damage to the surrounding tissue. This is called programmed cell death, or apoptosis. Apoptosis is very important in the lactating breast where it is needed to remove the milk producing cells when the baby is weaned and no longer needs breast feeding. We have been studying the apoptotic events that take place in breast cells and how these are controlled. We have found that the transcription factor Stat6, which binds to DNA to induce transcription of specific genes, is important for initiating apoptosis. In this project, we aim to identify genes are controlled by Stat6 and how they are involved in killing mammary cells.