ducts are the part of the mammary gland that produces milk.
ducts are the part of the mammary gland that produces milk.
what part of the mammary gland produces milk?
ducts
section::::structure.









































the basic components of a mature mammary gland are the "alveoli" (hollow cavities, a few millimeters large) lined with milk-secreting cuboidal cells and surrounded by myoepithelial cells. these alveoli join to form groups known as "lobules". each lobule has a "lactiferous duct" that drains into openings in the nipple. the myoepithelial cells contract under the stimulation of oxytocin, excreting the milk secreted by alveolar units into the lobule lumen toward the nipple. as the infant begins to suck, the oxytocin-mediated "let down reflex" ensues and the mother's milk is secreted — not sucked from the gland — into the baby's mouth.
mammary gland
estrogen and growth hormone (gh) are essential for the ductal component of mammary gland development, and act synergistically to mediate it. neither estrogen nor gh are capable of inducing ductal development without the other. the role of gh in ductal development has been found to be mostly mediated by its induction of the secretion of insulin-like growth factor 1 (igf-1), which occurs both systemically (mainly originating from the liver) and locally in the mammary fat pad through activation of the growth hormone receptor (ghr). however, gh itself also acts independently of igf-1 to stimulate ductal development by upregulating estrogen receptor (er) expression in mammary gland tissue, which is a downstream effect of mammary gland ghr activation. in any case, unlike igf-1, gh itself is not essential for mammary gland development, and igf-1 in conjunction with estrogen can induce normal mammary gland development without the presence of gh. in addition to igf-1, other paracrine growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (egf), transforming growth factor beta (tgf-β), amphiregulin, fibroblast growth factor (fgf), and hepatocyte growth factor (hgf) are involved in breast development as mediators downstream to sex hormones and gh/igf-1.
mammary gland