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Letter

Nature Cell Biology 10, 716–722 (1 June 2008) | doi:10.1038/ncb1734

|[beta]|1 Integrin deletion from the basal compartment of the mammary epithelium affects stem cells

Ilaria Taddei , Marie-Ange Deugnier , Marisa M. Faraldo , Val|[eacute]|rie Petit , Daniel Bouvard , Daniel Medina , Reinhard F|[auml]|ssler , Jean Paul Thiery & Marina A. Glukhova

The mammary gland epithelium comprises two major cell types: basal and luminal. Basal cells interact directly with the extracellular matrix (ECM) and express higher levels of the ECM receptors, integrins, than luminal cells.