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Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Processing of Human Reduction Mammoplasty and Mastectomy Tissues for Cell Culture
Published on: January 3, 2013
Midkine as a driver of age-related changes and increase in mammary tumorigenesis
Pengze Yan1, Ernesto Rojas Jimenez1, Zheqi Li1
1Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
Aging is a pivotal risk factor for cancer, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. Here, we explore age-related changes in the rat mammary gland by single-cell multiomics. Our findings include increased epithelial proliferation, loss of luminal identity, and decreased naive B and T cells with age. We discover a luminal progenitor population unique to old rats with profiles reflecting precancerous changes and identify midkine (Mdk) as a gene upregulated with age and a regulator of age-related luminal progenitors. Midkine treatment of young rats mimics age-related changes via activating PI3K-AKT-SREBF1 pathway and promotes nitroso-N-methylurea-induced mammary tumorigenesis. Midkine levels increase with age in human blood and mammary epithelium, and higher MDK in normal breast tissue is associated with higher breast cancer risk in younger women. Our findings reveal a link between aging and susceptibility to tumor initiation and identify midkine as a mediator of age-dependent increase in breast tumorigenesis.
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