Figure 4.

Rat strain-specific effects of 17β-estradiol on luminal ectasia and expression of milk proteins. Representative fluorescent images of mammary tissues from ACI and BN rats, either sham treated (Ctrl) or treated with E2 for 1, 3 or 12 weeks (n = 3). Nuclei were identified by staining DNA with DAPI (blue), luminal epithelial cells by immunostaining for K8 (red), and milk proteins were identified by immunostaining using a polyclonal antibody generated against milk specific proteins (green). Note that the mammary glands from E2 treated BN rats exhibit prominent ectatic lumens containing immunoreactive milk protein(s). Scale bars, 50 μm.