Induct and Involve

Dynamic and complex tissues, mammary glands undergo significant changes at puberty, during pregnancy and once milk production ends. Recent research identified a specific type of macrophages –immune cells best known for engulfing pathogens – which closely associate with mammary ducts, where milk is transported during lactation, and assist with this remodelling. As shown in this video of a mammary duct (in purple), surrounded by collagen fibres (in pink) and macrophages (in blue and yellow), the specialised ductal macrophages, in yellow, probe the duct to locate and destroy unwanted cells. Uniquely able to efficiently clear out dying milk-producing alveolar cells, ductal macrophages are crucial to the process of involution, when mammary glands return to a normal state after lactation. The network of these macrophages around mammary ducts also has similarities to macrophages in mammary tumours, so studying their roles in development and disease could lead to new insights for breast cancer research.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Video by Dr Caleb Dawson, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
• Cancer Biology and Stem Cells Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
• Video copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Nature Cell Biology, April 2020