Contraceptive progestins with androgenic properties stimulate breast epithelial cell proliferation

A–C

Graphs showing in vivo growth of HBECs from different donors as measured by radiance after treatment with LNG, ENZ, or LNG and ENZ, means of radiance in individual glands ± SEM, n = 8–10 per treatment, Wilcoxon matched‐pairs test. Right: Dot plot showing plasma levels of progesterone (P), testosterone (T) and LNG in individual xenografted animals.

D

Graph showing in vivo growth of HBECs from a 20‐year‐old patient transduced with either sh scramble or shAR and treated with LNG. Points show means of radiance in individual glands ± SEM; n = 8–10 per treatment. Wilcoxon matched‐pairs test.

E

Representative micrographs showing co‐IF with anti‐GFP (red), and anti‐AR (green) antibodies on histological sections from glands xenografted with HBECs transduced either with sh scramble or shAR‐expressing lentivirus. Scale bar, 50 μm.

F

Violin plot showing the percentage of AR‐ and GFP‐double⁺ cells of total GFP+ cells in sh scramble (n = 6) and shAR (n = 12) conditions, dots represent individual sectors counted, median (red). Statistical significance was assessed by fitting a generalized linear mixed model with gamma distributions using CTRL as reference. Red line shows median.

Figure 7. AR is required for levonorgestrel‐driven proliferation of xenografted HBECs.