Remodeling of mammary tissue and lactation persistency

本研究计划的长期目标是开发一种经济上可行且消费者可接受的技术，以改善泌乳持续性并使奶牛泌乳时间更长。从乳腺的角度来看，产奶量只是分泌细胞数量和这些细胞分泌活性的函数。 在山羊中， 分泌细胞的丧失是导致泌乳下降期间产奶量下降的原因。 目前在啮齿类动物和反刍动物中已经确定，退化（泌乳终止）期间的乳腺细胞损失是通过程序性细胞死亡（细胞凋亡）发生的。 细胞凋亡也发生在泌乳后期，并导致泌乳下降时分泌细胞的逐渐丧失。 因此，有相当大的动机，以确定调节乳腺细胞凋亡的因素，特别是在这些逐渐退化的早期阶段。

The long range objective of this research program is to develop an economically viable and consumer acceptable technology that would improve lactation persistency and enable longer lactation in dairy cows. From a mammary gland perspective, milk production is simply a function of the number of secretory cells and the secretory activity of these cells. In goats, it is the loss of secretory cells which accounts for the decrease in milk yield during declining lactation. It is now well established in rodents and ruminants that mammary cell loss during involution (termination of lactation) occurs through programmed cell death (apoptosis). Apoptosis also occurs in late lactation and accounts for the progressive loss of secretory cells in declining lactation. Therefore, there are considerable incentives to identify the factors that regulate mammary apoptosis, in particular during these early stages of gradual involution.