Abstract: 

Breast milk is often referred to as the first personalized medicine. In addition to supplying the newborn with fats, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates for optimal growth and development, a mother’s milk also contains immune cells, antibodies, prebiotics and other factors that help to shape infant’s immune system. Despite its importance for human health and mammalian survival, however, the biology of lactation remains poorly understood. 

Using multi-scale imaging and novel genetically-engineered mouse models, my team has been able to observe alveolar contractions in the functionally mature mammary gland. We have revealed how specialized epithelial cells, which possess the ability to behave like smooth muscle cells, undergo calcium-dependent contractions. Our work demonstrates that individual oscillators can be electrically coupled to achieve global synchrony, a phenomenon that has not yet been observed in the mammary gland. By imaging activity across scales, our research provides a window into the organization, dynamics, and role of epithelial calcium oscillations in the organ principally responsible for sustaining neonatal life in mammals. By characterizing how these cells function under physiological conditions, our research is also providing new insights into how signal transduction may be altered in disease and presents a new framework to explore this.

Venue:

The seminar will be held at 12:00 pm in 1262-101 (“Samfundsmedicinsk Aud.”).

The talk is 45 min in duration, followed by 15 minutes of discussion.

Sign-up: 

It is possible to sign-up for a free sandwich, if you follow this link:

https://events.au.dk/biomedicineseminarseptember2021

Please note the deadline for sandwich sign-up is Monday the 30^th of August.

Biomedicine seminar organizing committee:

Mikkel Vendelbo

Line Reinert

Søren Egedal Degn 

Martin Kristian Thomsen