Estrogen affects development of alveolar structures in whole-organ culture of mouse mammary glands

In order to determine if estrogen affects lobulo-alveolar development, and to determine if whole organ culture of mouse mammary glands is an appropriate model of estrogen effects on mammary development, mouse mammary glands were cultured in the presence or absence of phenol red and estrogen. Lobulo-alveolar development did not occur in vitro when phenol red was eliminated from culture medium. Lobulo-alveolar development was stimulated by 17 beta-estradiol in a dose dependent manner over a physiological range. These results support the hypothesis that estrogen plays a critical role in alveolar development in the mammary gland. In this report an in vitro model of mammary development is identified in which the effects of estrogen are morphologically described and quantified. (C) 1997 Academic Press.