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，以提高奶牛的泌乳持久性，延长泌乳时间。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，分泌细胞的减少是导致泌乳减少的原因。现在已经在啮齿类动物和反刍动物中证实，在哺乳期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，并解释了泌乳下降过程中分泌细胞的逐渐丧失。因此，有相当大的动机来确定调节乳腺细胞凋亡的因素，特别是在这些早期阶段的逐渐退化。

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.