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Scientists from the University of Sheffield have discovered a protein that kick-starts milk production after breastfeeding has paused
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The team found the Rac1 protein which turns milk-secreting cells into cannibalistic cell eaters to clear up dead cells and remove surplus milk, also kick-starts milk production after temporary pauses
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The groundbreaking study provides new insights into how breast cancer cells might acquire resistance to cell death in non-permissive environment
Scientists have discovered a protein that kick-starts milk production after breastfeeding is over - something which could provide effective new targets for cancer treatments.
The groundbreaking study from the University of Sheffield uncovered a protein called Rac1, which acts as a critical switch to kick-start milk production in breast cells when lactation has stopped and the breast has already begun returning to its pre-pregnancy state.
Once babies start eating solids, the breasts wind down production of milk and undergo a process of shrinkage to return back to in-activity. The milk producing units are dismantled through cellular suicide to remove the redundant tissue. During intermittent feeding the shrinking breast can remarkably reverse to reinitiate lactation if suckling resumes. Until now it was not known how this process happened.
