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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Feb 14.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Cell Biol. 2016 Oct 31;18(12):1346–1356. doi: 10.1038/ncb3434

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Mostly quiescent Lgr6-expressing cells can be reactivated by pregnancy or hormone treatment. (a) Scheme illustrating induction of lineage tracing in 8w-old LT females and analysis over pregnancy. Pregnancy (P); lactation (L); involution (Inv). (b, c) 3D reconstructions of K14/K8 immunostained mammary gland from LT female at 14.5 dpc P1. Scale bars: 50 µm (b), 40 µm (c). (d) Quantification of alveoli containing basal and luminal tdTomato+ cells when traced into the first lactation (lact.) after tamoxifen administration to LT females at 8w of age. (1316 counted alveoli pooled from 3 mice:). (e) 3D reconstruction of mammary duct from LT female 3w p.i. and 2w post-implantation of 17 β -estradiol and progesterone (E/P) pellets. Expansion of luminal tdTomato+ clones (arrows). Scale bar: 50 µm. (f) Distribution of tdTomato+ cells over MECs 2w post-treatment with 17 β-estradiol (E, n = 3 mice) and 17β-estradiol/progesterone (E/P, n = 4 mice), compared to tamoxifen-treated control (C) mice (n = 3 mice). Mean ± s.e.m. *P < 0.038 (One-way ANOVA). (g) Lgr6+ luminal cells in mammary duct of P56 Lgr6-CreERT2+/- female staining positive for oestrogen receptor-α (ERα) (arrows). Scale bar: 25 µm. See Supplementary Table 2 for source data for f.