Can prostate, salivary, or other glandular tissues express/secrete milk proteins under experimental conditions in any model organism? The ability of breast epithelial tissue to express/secrete milk proteins in response to physiological, pathological or pharmacological stimuli is well known. What is not known to me is whether milk proteins have evolutionary function other than being part of the milk.
I would like to know non-mammary cell/tissue types where milk protein encoding genes are expressed or could be triggered by experimental conditions. Please direct me to relevant publications.
Hi Nagarajan,
I am no knowledge about the very specific milk proteins (caseins and Alpha-lactalbumine mainly) production by non mammalian cells excepted after transfection. But I red some papers about crop milk production of pigeon (under the same regulation with prolactin as mammary epithelial cells) and the presence of casein kinases and immunoglobulins gene. In an old time Crop of pigeon was a very simple and reactive organ to assess prolactin effect and concentration. May be that can help but unfortunately i cannot find rapidly theses old papers; you could look at this one in PLS one:
Functional Similarities between Pigeon ‘Milk’ and Mammalian Milk: Induction of Immune Gene Expression and Modification of the Microbiota
Meagan J. Gillespie (This author is on research gate and could be easily contacted) , Dragana Stanley, Honglei Chen, John A. Donald, Kevin R. Nicholas, Robert J. Moore, Tamsyn M. Crowley
Published: October 26, 2012
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048363
I think it would be interesting to try primary culture of epidermal sudiferous glands, especially those that lie along the "milk line" in the axillary region. Dissect them out of surplus skin from surgery using collagenases and trypsin, spin them down, establish them in something like matrigel, and then stimulate them with prolactin, cortisol and insulin.
Liver cells in cows express beta-casein (we have microarray and gene expression data - sorry not published). Remember though that the "milk proteins" actually have other functional roles., such as ALAB which is required for lactose synthesis, So it is conceivable that they play similar roles in other tissues.
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