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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Differentiation of Mouse Breast Epithelial HC11 and EpH4 Cells
Published on: February 27, 2020
[Cadherins in the mammary gland and the melanocyte lineage]
Véronique Delmas1, Lionel Larue
1Developmental Genetics of Melanocytes, UMR146 CNRS-Institut Curie, Bat 110, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France. veronique.delmas@curie.u-psud.fr
Abstract:
Cadherins are transmembrane glycoproteins involved in cell-cell adhesion, signalling, proliferation and differentiation. In this review, we have focused upon in vivo cadherin expression and function in two different biological systems, the mammary gland epithelium and the melanocyte lineage. Development of the mammary gland represents a paradigm of in situ epithelial differentiation and the melanocyte lineage of a model of non-epithelial (or mesenchymal) cell differentiation where cells migrate extensively from their site of origin towards the skin compartment. In the mammary epithelium, the predominantly expressed cadherin is E-cadherin, a cell surface molecule that directs morphogenesis and maintenance of the epithelial structure. In the melanocyte lineage, the expression of a number of cadherins is strictly spatiotemporally regulated during development and adult life. The specific functions mediated by this very dynamic cadherin expression are not yet known and their characterisation represents a challenge for the future.
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