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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Reprod Toxicol. 2014 Sep 30;54:58–65. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2014.09.012

Figure 8.

Figure 8

BPA exposure alters mammary gland development and increases the risk of mammary carcinogenesis: BPA binds to the fetal mammary gland mesenchymal ERs, and in turn affects the composition of the ECM increasing tissue rigidity. Increased rigidity delays lumen formation. BPA also induces precocious adipocyte differentiation, which in turn accelerates duct elongation and branching. These changes lead to an increased sensitivity to mammotropic hormones in adulthood. BPA also binds to ER in the hypothalamus, where it alters the control of ovarian cyclicity and the control of the secretion of mammotropic hormones. The solid arrows link effects of in utero exposure to BPA in rodents and non-human primates. Dashed arrows indicate hypothesized links between effects during fetal mammary gland development and mammary carcinogenesis.