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Updated: Apr 11, 2026
Mammary Epithelial Transplant Procedure
Published on: June 10, 2010
The transplantation of mouse mammary epithelial cells into cleared mammary fat pads
Marisa M Faraldo1, Marina A Glukhova, Marie-Ange Deugnier
1Centre de Recherche, UMR144, CNRS, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, Paris, F-75248, France, faraldo@curie.fr.
The transplantation of mammary epithelial cells into the cleared fat pad allows their growth and differentiation in their normal physiological environment. This technique involves the grafting of tissue fragments or isolated cells into the mammary fat pads of prepubertal mice from which the endogenous epithelium has been surgically removed. Such transplantation assays are particularly useful for the analysis of morphogenetic potential and stem cell activity in normal mammary epithelium and breast tumors. We describe here the main steps in the transplantation of epithelial fragments and isolated cells from mouse mammary glands and the various approaches currently used to evaluate the regeneration and self-renewal properties of mammary stem cells.
The transplantation of mammary epithelial cells into the cleared fat pad allows their growth and differentiation in their normal physiological environment. This technique involves the grafting of tissue fragments or isolated cells into the mammary fat pads of prepubertal mice from which the endogenous epithelium has been surgically removed. Such transplantation assays are particularly useful for the analysis of morphogenetic potential and stem cell activity in normal mammary epithelium and breast tumors. We describe here the main steps in the transplantation of epithelial fragments and isolated cells from mouse mammary glands and the various approaches currently used to evaluate the regeneration and self-renewal properties of mammary stem cells.
