Mechanisms Underlying the Very High Susceptibility of the Immature Mammary Gland to Carcinogenic Initiation.

Abstract

The overall goal of this project remains to explore the toxic effects of physical and chemical carcinogens on the immature mammary gland as compared to these effects on the young adult mammary gland using a rat model. During the second grant year we have: (1) shown that as with radiation, the rat mammary carcinogen NMU is more cytotoxic in the immature in situ mammary gland than it is in the mature gland, (2) established the "Big Blue" mutagenesis assay in the laboratory and are in the process of adapting it to the mammary gland, (3) have set up our first long term carcinogenesis study, (4) have established the "Comet assay" for DNA damage in the lab and are adapting it to mammary cells, and (5) have established subtraction libraries to identify genes which are either under or overexpressed in the immature mammary gland. We are currently analyzing members of these libraries. We feel that these studies will help mechanistically define the epidemiological observation in women which suggests that the immature mammary gland is more susceptible to environmental carcinogens than is the adult gland.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA355344

Entities

People

  • Michael N. Gould

Organizations

  • University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biological Factors
  • Breast Cancer
  • Cancer
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Cells
  • Chemistry
  • Growth Factors
  • Ionizing Radiation
  • Lymphatic System
  • Mammary Glands
  • Mrna
  • Neoplasms
  • Peptide Growth Factors
  • Peptides
  • Proteins
  • Radiation
  • Tissues

Readers

  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Molecular and genetic basis of cancer.