Seminar: "Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Alters the Single-cell Transcriptome in Mammary Tumors of MMTV-Wnt1 Mice" - Kristyn Lambert

Seminars in Endocrinology and Animal Biosciences

"Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Alters the Single-cell Transcriptome in Mammary Tumors of MMTV-Wnt1 Mice"

Kristyn Lambert

PhD Candidate, Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program

Synopsis: Alcohol consumption is a recognized risk factor for breast cancer. The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) concept links prenatal and early postnatal adverse exposures to cellular reprogramming, leading to greater susceptibility for chronic disease later in life. Therefore, we hypothesized that prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) creates a suboptimal in utero environment, which initiates reprogramming of the mammary stem/progenitor cell populations and increases risk for mammary tumorigenesis. We utilized the MMTV-Wnt1 mouse model to study the effects of PAE on the preneoplastic mammary epithelial cell hierarchy and tumor formation. Currently, we are investigating the effects of PAE on pubertal mammary cells, tumor phenotype, and the tumor single-cell transcriptome. These findings will provide insight into the mechanisms by which PAE affects mammary programming to influence oncogenesis and tumor behavior.