Sequencing the transcriptome of milk production: milk trumps mammary tissue

BMC Genomics

Research Article

Frank Ventimiglia¹  Joyce WS Lee¹  Kimberli A Schmidt²  Peter A Barry²  Juan F Medrano³  Russell C Hovey³  Alma Islas-Trejo³  Jennifer T Smilowitz⁴  J Bruce German⁴  Katie Hinde⁵  Pedro Ivo Silva⁶  Danielle G Lemay⁶  Stella R Hartono⁶  Ian Korf⁶ 

[1] California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Road 98 and Hutchison Drive, Davis, CA, USA;Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, 95616, Davis, CA, USA;Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, 95616, Davis, CA, USA;Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, 95616, Davis, CA, USA;Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum, 11 Divinity Avenue, 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA;California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Road 98 and Hutchison Drive, Davis, CA, USA;Genome Center, University of California Davis, 451 Health Sciences Dr, 95616, Davis, CA, USA;

关键词: Mammary gland;    Milk;    Rhesus macaque;    Human;    Transcriptome;    RNA-Seq;    Milk RNA;    Bioinformatics;    Milk processing;    Transcriptomics;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2164-14-872

 received in 2013-08-08, accepted in 2013-12-09,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundStudies of normal human mammary gland development and function have mostly relied on cell culture, limited surgical specimens, and rodent models. Although RNA extracted from human milk has been used to assay the mammary transcriptome non-invasively, this assay has not been adequately validated in primates. Thus, the objectives of the current study were to assess the suitability of lactating rhesus macaques as a model for lactating humans and to determine whether RNA extracted from milk fractions is representative of RNA extracted from mammary tissue for the purpose of studying the transcriptome of milk-producing cells.ResultsWe confirmed that macaque milk contains cytoplasmic crescents and that ample high-quality RNA can be obtained for sequencing. Using RNA sequencing, RNA extracted from macaque milk fat and milk cell fractions more accurately represented RNA from mammary epithelial cells (cells that produce milk) than did RNA from whole mammary tissue. Mammary epithelium-specific transcripts were more abundant in macaque milk fat, whereas adipose or stroma-specific transcripts were more abundant in mammary tissue. Functional analyses confirmed the validity of milk as a source of RNA from milk-producing mammary epithelial cells.ConclusionsRNA extracted from the milk fat during lactation accurately portrayed the RNA profile of milk-producing mammary epithelial cells in a non-human primate. However, this sample type clearly requires protocols that minimize RNA degradation. Overall, we validated the use of RNA extracted from human and macaque milk and provided evidence to support the use of lactating macaques as a model for human lactation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Lemay et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013