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Five-week-old female mice supplemented with estradiol and progesterone are able to respond to epidermal growth factor (EGF) and EGF-like growth factors (alpha-transforming growth factor alpha-TGF and crude mammary-derived growth factor) with local lobuloalveolar development when these growth factors are directly introduced into the mammary glands via slow-release cholesterol-based pellets. Contralateral glands receiving pellets containing only cholesterol showed no growth response. The local growth effect is maximal at 4-5 days of exposure to hormones and growth factors. The glands appear to be more sensitive to alpha-TGF than EGF, since local development is seen with one-fifth the level of the former vs. the latter growth factor and can be seen even in the absence of the systemic estrogen/progesterone supplement.
Barbara K. Vonderhaar (Tue,) studied this question.