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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Mar 2.
Published in final edited form as: Cell. 2012 Mar 2;148(5):1015–1028. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.02.008

Figure 4. The induction of MaSCs by Sox9 in basal cells.

Figure 4

(A) The organoid-forming efficiencies of basal cells transduced with the indicated vectors.

(B) The solid organoid- and acinus-forming efficiencies of basal cells transduced with the indicated cDNA and shRNA expression vectors. Cells were subjected to organoid culture 5 days post-infection. The shLuciferase (shLuc) shRNA was used as a control.

(C) A model showing the mammary epithelial hierarchy and the actions of the forced expression of Slug and Sox9 in various mammary epithelial lineages. The dashed lines indicate that the expression of the indicated factor(s) converts differentiated cells into stem or progenitor cells. Whether Sox9 expression converts differentiated myoepithelial cells or myoepithelial progenitors into MaSCs and/or expands a pre-existing MaSC population remains to be determined.

The data are represented as mean ± SEM.