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Stem cells

Cues from steroid hormones

Nature volume 465, pages 695–696 (2010)Cite this article

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The steroid hormones oestrogen and progesterone have a role in sickness and in health. In breast tissue, both roles probably work through a single mechanism: controlling the number and activity of mammary stem cells.

From puberty to menopause, the mammary gland develops through tightly choreographed stages of cell proliferation. A miscue in this cellular process, however, can predispose the breast tissue to cancer. Although a proliferative role for the steroid hormones oestrogen and progesterone in this tissue is well established, a vexing question persists: how does the mammary gland translate hormonal signals into proliferation? In this issue, Asselin-Labat et al.1 (page 798) and Joshi et al.2 (page 803) provide evidence that oestrogen and progesterone indirectly instruct mammary stem cells not only to increase their own number but also to spawn a cornucopia of other cell types — a typical mammary proliferative response to hormone exposure.

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Figure 1: Hormones and cells.

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  1. John P. Lydon is in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. jlydon@bcm.tmc.edu,

    John P. Lydon

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  1. John P. Lydon
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Lydon, J. Cues from steroid hormones. Nature 465, 695–696 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/465695a

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