乳腺干细胞自我更新相关信号通路研究进展

Progress on Self-renewal Signaling Pathways of Mammary Stem Cells

乳腺干细胞是来源于乳腺组织的一种成体干细胞,具有自我更新和定向分化潜能。乳腺干细胞对乳腺的发育和功能维持具有重要作用。近年来发现,乳腺干细胞与乳腺癌的发生也有密切联系。多条信号通路对乳腺干细胞的自我更新与分化起着重要作用,这些通路包括Wnt、Notch和Hedgehog通路等。了解这些信号通路的调控机制对乳腺干细胞、乳腺发育以及乳腺癌的研究均有重要意义。本文就近年来该方面的进展做一综述,以期为本领域相关研究提供参考。

Mammary stem cells （MaSCs） are kind of adult stem cells derived from mammary tissues, and have the potential for self-renewal and directed differentiation. MaSCs not only play an important role in the development and function maintaining of mammary gland, but also are associated with mammary carcinogenesis. Several signaling pathways play an important role in MaSCs self-renewal and differentiation, mainly including the Wnt, Notch and Hedgehog signaling pathways. It is very important to understand the regulation mechanism of these signaling pathways on the researches of mammary stem cells, mammary gland development and mammary cancer. So, in this review, it is summarized the recent progresses in this field so as to provide some help for the researchers in the mammary stem cells field.