Project description:Adipose tissue in the mammary gland undergoes dramatic remodeling during reproduction. Adipocytes are replaced by mammary alveolar structures during pregnancy and lactation, then reappear upon weaning. Here, we reveal that adipocytes in the mammary gland de-differentiate into Pdgfrα+ preadipocyte- and fibroblast-like cells during pregnancy, and remain de-differentiated during lactation. Upon weaning, de-differentiated fibroblasts proliferate and re-differentiate into adipocytes. In order to determine the molecular signature of these de-differentiated adipocytes in the mammary gland, we compared these cells with classical adipocytes. Using the AdipoChaser-mT/mG system, we pre-labeled mature adipocytes with GFP expression to characterize the features of these de-differentiated adipocytes (Figure 4A), and then purified CD31-/CD45-/PDGFRα+/Tomato+ and CD31-/CD45-/PDGFRα+/GFP+ cells from the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of lactating mammary gland at the peak of lactation through FACS. Gene expression analyses showed that the CD31-/CD45-/PDGFRα+/Tomato+ cells were indeed enriched with Tomato expression, while the CD31-/CD45-/PDGFRα+/GFP+ cells were enriched with GFP expression (Figure 4C). We then collected CD31-/CD45-/PDGFRα+/GFP+ cells as single cells for subsequent single cell RNA-sequencing analysis (Figure 4D-G, Supplemental. Figure S1A-G). After the flow sorting and single cell RNA amplification, 26 CD31-/CD45-/PDGFRα+/GFP+ cells passed the quality control, and these cells were used for single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis. Due to technical difficulties in sorting single mature white adipocyte through flow cytometry, adipocytes differentiated from the immortalized murine-derived brown pre-adipocyte cell line were used as mature adipocyte control (Pradhan et al., 2017). Additionally, we also included population RNA-seq experiments, i.e. three mature white adipocyte samples, two GFP+, and six GFP- ones.
Project description:Purpose: The goals of this study are to compare the de-differentiated dermal adipocytes with normal skin fibroblasts. Methods: Library prepared followed by 10X Genomics standard protocol. Transcriptome was generated by high throughput sequencing.
Project description:Macrophages are involved in immune defense, organogenesis and tissue homeostasis. They also contribute to the different phases of mammary gland remodeling during development, pregnancy and involution post-lactation. Yet, less is known about the dynamics of mammary gland macrophages in the lactation stage. Here, we describe a macrophage population present during lactation in mice. By multi-parameter flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing we reveal this population as distinct from the two resident macrophage subsets present pregestationally. These lactation-induced macrophages (LiMacs) are predominantly monocyte-derived and expand by proliferation in situ concomitant with nursing. LiMacs develop independently of IL-34 but require CSF-1 signaling and are partly microbiota-dependent. Locally, they reside adjacent to the basal cells of the alveoli and extravasate into the milk. Moreover, we also found several macrophage subsets in human milk, resembling LiMacs. Collectively, these findings reveal the emergence of unique macrophages in the mammary gland and milk during lactation.
Project description:A comparison of the mRNAs analysis in lactation mammary myoepithelial cells (GFP+/GFP-) and brown adipocytes (GFP+) from Myf5-Cre-ROSAmTmG and Ucp1-iCre-ROSAmTmG mice. Results provide the gene expression signature in the brown origin (UCP1/Myf5-positive) myoepithelial cells in vivo.
Project description:Studying composition and developmental mechanisms in mammary gland is crucial for healthy growth of the newborn. Here, we constructed the largest transcriptomic dataset of mammary gland cells thus far. The dataset captured 126,829 high-quality nuclei from adipocytes, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, fibroblasts cells, immune cells, myoepithelial cells and precursor cells at five timepoint of mammary development. Remarkably, adipocytes were annotated in the mammary gland for the first time at both snRNA-seq and spatial transcriptome levels. Histological observation and cell type annotations indicated that the living space of adipocytes was compressed to a great extent during lactation. The cell-cell interaction pathway indicated that to maintain their own survival, adipocytes in lactation eliminated chemokines and avoided the phagocytosis of immune cells through the chemokine receptor-ligand pairs, such as CCL21-ACKR4. In the period of natural involution, we speculated that adipocytes inhibited apoptosis based on the activation of ADI-POQ-ADIPOR2 pairs, which was further confirmed in the spatial transcriptome level. Meanwhile, we found that the dedifferentiation of epithelial cells was initiation, that is, they were converted into mesenchymal stem cells. Another vital feature of remodeling mammary gland was that other cells seem to be actively cleared by immune cells via the IL34-CSF1R pathway. Our cell transcriptomic profile constitutes an essential reference for future studies in the development and remodeling of the mammary gland.
Project description:To investigate the role of YAP/TAZ as factors able to convert differentiated cells into stem cells of the same tissue, we compared the expression profiles of mammary organoids (yOrg) obtained by doxycycline-inducible expression of YAP in luminal differentiated mammary cells with original luminal differentiated mammary cells (Lum) and organoids from native mammary stem cells (Org).
Project description:The progression of noninvasive ductal carcinoma in situ to invasive ductal carcinoma for patients with breast cancer results in a significantly poorer prognosis and is the precursor to metastatic disease. In this work, we have identified insulin-like growth factor–binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) as a potent adipocrine factor secreted by healthy breast adipocytes that acts as a barrier against invasive progression. In line with this role, adipocytes differentiated from patient-derived stromal cells were found to secrete IGFBP2, which significantly inhibited breast cancer invasion. This occurred through binding and sequestration of cancer-derived IGF-II. Moreover, depletion of IGF-II in invading cancer cells using small interfering RNAs or an IGF-II–neutralizing antibody ablated breast cancer invasion, highlighting the importance of IGF-II autocrine signaling for breast cancer invasive progression. Given the abundance of adipocytes in the healthy breast, this work exposes the important role they play in suppressing cancer progression and may help expound upon the link between increased mammary density and poorer prognosis.
Project description:We report here the adipocyte-specific ablation of Tsc1 and its affects on lactation and mammary gland function. In this dataset, mammary glands from wild-type and adipocyte Tsc1 knockout mice were isolated during lactation and analysed by RNAseq. Deletion of Tsc1 is predicted to activate mTORC1 in both peripheral and mammary adipocytes. This study demonstrates that deletion of Tsc1 in adipocytes changes mammary gland histology, and function resulting in changes to breastmilk composition.