Akt1, a serine-threonine protein kinase member of the PKB/Akt gene family, plays critical roles in the regulation of multiple cellular processes, and has previously been implicated in lactation and breast cancer development. In this study, we utilized Akt1+/+ and Akt1-/- C57/Bl6 female mice to assess the role that Akt1 plays in normal mammary gland postnatal development and function. We examine...

A cattle database of candidate genes and genetic markers for milk production and mastitis has been developed to provide an integrated research tool incorporating different types of information supporting a genomic approach to study lactation, udder development and health. The database contains 943 genes and genetic markers involved in mammary gland development and function, representing candida...

Reduced circulating levels of alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT) are associated with certain alpha 1 AT genotypes and increased susceptibility to emphysema. Unfortunately, the amounts of alpha 1 AT that would be required for replacement therapy are beyond the capacity of plasma fractionation and mammalian cell culture systems. Thus, we have examined the potential of transgenic animals as an alter...

Prolactin plays an important regulatory function in mammary gland development, milk secretion, and expression of milk protein genes. Hence the PRL gene is a potential quantitative trait locus and genetic marker of production traits in dairy cattle. We analysed the sequence of the PRL gene to investigate whether mutations in this sequence might be responsible for quantitative variations in milk ...

An understanding of the mechanisms regulating milk yield in sows is crucial for producers to make the best management decisions during lactation. Suckling of mammary glands by piglets is one factor that is essential for development of these glands during lactation and for the maintenance of lactation in sows. The process of mammary development is not static as the majority of it takes place in ...

Patterns of gene expression in normal and neoplastic rat mammary tissues were compared by cell-free translation of their total polyadenylated RNAs and by dot blot hybridization of the RNA to cloned complementary DNA probes for six of the major milk proteins, including: Mr 42,000 and 25,000 caseins, X-casein, whey phosphoproteins, kappa-proteins, and alpha-lactalbumin. Distinct but overlapping m...

Milk fat has a large effect on nutritional, technological and sensorial properties of milk products. The milk fat content and composition are modulated by genetics and nutritional factors and imply a large number of enzymes. The regulation of their gene expression in the mammary gland still needs to be clarified. An association between the extensive polymorphism at the alphas1-casein (alphas1-C...

Somatic cells are present in the milk throughout lactation and consist of leukocytes and epithelial cells exfoliated from the mammary epithelium. Our objective was to determine the efficacy of using somatic cells from goat milk for dynamic studies of gene expression in the mammary gland. Over a 4-wk interval, cells were isolated from daily morning milk samples and samples taken 30 min after mil...

BACKGROUND Nutrition affects milk composition thus influencing its nutritional properties. Nutrition also modifies the expression of mammary genes, whose regulation is not fully understood. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small non coding RNA which are important post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression by targeting messenger RNAs. Our goal was to characterize miRNA whose expression is regulated...

BACKGROUND The mammary gland is a conserved site of lipoprotein lipase expression across species and lipoprotein lipase attachment to the luminal surface of mammary gland vascular endothelial cells has been implicated in the direction of circulating triglycerides into milk synthesis during lactation. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here we report generation of transgenic mice harboring a human lipoprotein...