Figure 4.
The mammary glands from Ttc9a KO mice are more responsive to estradiol. Representative whole mount images of the 4th inguinal mammary gland of (A) control (ctrl) (B) 17β estradiol benzoate (E2) and (C) 17β estradiol benzoate and progesterone (E2P) treated Ttc9a+/+and Ttc9a-/- mice. The mammary ductal morphology between the Ttc9a+/+ and Ttc9a-/- gland was quantified using the Image J software. The histograms illustrated significant increases in (D) ductal branch points and (E) ductal length in Ttc9a-/- mice compared to Ttc9a+/+ on E2P and E2 treatment respectively. Also there was a significant increase in the (F) TEB count in Ttc9a-/- gland on E2 treatment compared to Ttc9a+/+. This increased ductal morphology were associated with greater induction of E2 target genes (PR, Areg, Greb1 and Muc1) in Ttc9a-/- mice than Ttc9a+/+ mice as analyzed by real time PCR (G-J). Data are expressed as means ± SEM; for each sample set. *p<0.05, **p< 0.01.Supplement data indicates the number of animals used in each analysis.