Protein Dynamic Landscape during Mouse Mammary Gland Development from Virgin to Pregnant, Lactating, and Involuting Stages

The
mammary gland undergoes significant physiological changes as
it undergoes a transition from virgin to pregnancy, lactation, and
involution. However, the dynamic role of proteins in regulating these
processes during mouse mammary gland development has not been thoroughly
explored. In this study, we collected mouse mammary gland tissues
from mature virgins aged 8–10 weeks (V), day 16 of pregnancy
(P16d), day 12 of lactation (L12d), day 1 of forced weaning (FW 1d),
and day 3 of forced weaning (FW 3d) stages for analysis using DIA-based
quantitative proteomics technology. A total of 3,312 proteins were
identified, of which 843 were DAPs that were categorized into nine
clusters based on their abundance changes across developmental stages.
Notably, DAPs in cluster 2, which peaked at the L12d stage, were primarily
associated with mammary gland development and lactation. The protein–protein
interaction network revealed that the epidermal growth factor (EGF)
was central to this cluster. Our study provides a comprehensive overview
of the mouse mammary gland development proteome and identifies some
important proteins, such as EGF, Janus kinase 1 (JAK1), and signal
transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) that may serve
as potential targets for future research to provide guidelines for
a deeper understanding of the developmental biology of mammary glands.