Pubertal Social Isolation and Hypervigilance Regulate Gene Expression Mechanisms of Mammary Differentiation and Cancer Risks
Abstract
During Year 01 of this grant period, the Principal Investigator (PI) published her discovery that social isolation dissociates two components of puberty: it accelerates ovarian development while simultaneously delaying mammary gland development, thereby greatly increasing the exposure of developing breast parenchyma to high levels of ovarian hormones (Hermes and McClintock, 2008). In addition, socially isolated rats subsequently develop a greater mammary tumor burden during middle age, despite having entered estropause prematurely. This focused the research on puberty and young adulthood, not middle age, as a key sensitive period for increasing risk for mammary tumors. In Year 03, the PI reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that socially isolating pubertal rats increased their glucocorticoid stress response to everyday laboratory care and procedures (Hermes et al., 2009). Throughout adulthood, their glucocorticoid stress responses became progressively dysregulated and by middle age, social isolation had increased tumor malignancy, invasiveness, size and number. Importantly, these mammary tumors had receptors for glucocorticoids, the first report of stress receptors in an animal model of naturally developing breast cancer.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA560196
Entities
People
- Martha Mcclintock
Organizations
- University of Chicago