His techniques included the creation of transgenic bovine mammary epithelial cells that secrete recombinant ovine IGF-1. He and his students studied developmental patterns for the cells and effects of inserting foreign gene sequences into the cell DNA on secretion of IGF-1. Such studies may also have application for understanding the role of growth factors in development of breast cancer since IGF-1 is involved in some cancers.
He subsequently produced transgenic mice that synthesize and secrete rIGF-I in their mammary tissue, confirming that local IGF influences mammary development.
Because Akers also observed that mammary tissue in rodents is distinctly different from that of ruminants, he does research with cows and sheep, in addition to using the rodent model, to study the effects of ovarian hormones and nutrition on local mammary tissues synthesis and secretion of IGF-1 and related binding proteins. As a result, he also discovered that the involvement of the ovary in regulation of peripubertal mammary development is different in cattle than in sheep. And while both are different than human, they are more similar in structure to humans than rodents are to humans, he notes.
William Drohan, senior director of plasma development at the American Red Cross, reports that Akers' research techniques "provided some of the earliest groundbreaking and most difficult work in the scientific development of transgenic animals. As a result of this pioneering work, transgenic animal technology holds tremendous promise for the large-scale production of life-saving human therapeutic drugs in quantities far greater than could ever be produced through fractionation of human blood.
Akers' creative thought led to the early
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Contact: R. Michael Akers
rma@vt.edu
540-231-4757
Virginia Tech
8-Aug-2000