Notch Signaling in Mammary Development and Tumorigenesis

Harvard Medical School, Boston MA

Investigators

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Notch signaling defines an evolutionarily conserved cell interaction mechanism that broadly controls cell fate acquisition in metazoans and consequently, profoundly affects cellular differentiation, apoptosis and proliferation. In humans, Notch signaling abnormalities have been linked to a variety of pathogenic conditions and its involvement in carcinogenesis is being increasingly appreciated, thus Notch has become an important potential target for cancer therapy. We propose to explore specific models and unique transgenic reagents we developed which now allow us to address systematically the fundamental question of Notch signal integration at the cellular level, and in particular, how it relates to the synergy of Notch signals with other cellular elements to influence, cause or sustain oncogenesis in the mammary epithelium. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Our work directly addresses the link between Notch signaling and tumorigenesis in the mammary gland. We are taking advantage of novel transgenic mice we generated to study the effects of Notch signals in the mammary epithelium, while we also use Drosophila Genetics as a powerful tool to examine how Notch signals integrate their action with other cellular elements to affect cell proliferation. Our goal is to gain insights into the involvement of Notch signaling in cell proliferation and consequently its involvement in breast cancer.