Either Lgr4 haploinsufficiency or mammary-specific deletion inhibited mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)- PyMT- and MMTV- Wnt1-driven mammary tumorigenesis and metastasis.
In this study, we investigated whether early exposure to blueberry (BB) via maternal diet alters oncogene Wnt1-induced mammary tumorigenesis in offspring.
Consistent with this, by use of carcinogen-induced ras mutations as well as knock-in mice harboring a latent activated Kras2 allele, we demonstrate that Kras2 activation strongly synergizes with both c-MYC and Wnt1 in mammary tumorigenesis and promotes the progression of tumors to oncogene independence.
To test these ideas, we have examined telomere dynamics and telomerase activation during mammary tumorigenesis in mice carrying a mouse mammary tumor virus long terminal repeat-driven Wnt-1 transgene.