Figure 3: AURKA is induced at the onset of lactation and is essential for the formation of binucleated cells.
From: Essential role for a novel population of binucleated mammary epithelial cells in lactation
(a) Heat map showing genes differentially expressed between the virgin state, late pregnancy and early lactation in sorted luminal cells for the cell division GO group. AURKA and PLK1 are marked in red; P<0.05 for 2 dL versus 18.5 dP (using a TREAT-moderated t-test). (b) Representative western blot analysis (n=2) of AURKA expression in sorted luminal (Lin−CD29loCD24+) and basal (Lin−CD29hiCD24+) cells isolated from pregnant (18.5 dP) or lactating glands (1 and 2 dL). (c) Bar graph of FACS data showing percentage of cells containing 2N or 4N DNA content in the luminal, basal and stromal cell compartments from WAP-icre/AURKAf/f (AURKAΔ/Δ) and control AURKAf/f mice at 2 dL. Error bars represent mean±s.e.m. (n=3 mice) ***P<0.001. (d) Representative whole-mount 3D confocal images of ductal portions and optical sections from the enlarged region for WAP-icre/AURKAf/f glands (bottom) compared with control AURKAf/f mammary glands (top). The whole-mounts were labelled for DAPI (white), milk (red) and F-actin (blue). Scale bars: 100 μm (whole-mounts); and 20 μm (optical sections). (e) Body weight of pups nursed by WAP-icre/AURKAf/f dams versus littermate control AURKAf/f dams (n=6). Error bars represent mean±s.e.m. P<0.0001. Representative photograph of pups nursed by a WAP-icre/AURKAf/f dam versus an AURKAf/f dam at 14 dL. (f) Western blot analysis (n=2) of expression of AURKA and Actin in WAP-icre/AURKAf/f compared with AURKAf/f glands at 2 dL. The asterix denotes a nonspecific band.
