{
  "abstract": "The human mammary gland arises through sequential lineage restrictions from surface ectoderm to hormone-responsive bilayered epithelium, yet a tractable in vitro model that captures these events has remained elusive. Here, we established a stepwise differentiation protocol that directs human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into mammary organoids (MGOs) by sequential induction of non-neural ectoderm, mammary placodes, and lineage maturation in a defined medium. The resulting MGOs reproducibly formed polarized basal (KRT14+, TP63+) and luminal (KRT8+, GATA3+) layers, with ~25% of luminal cells expressing oestrogen receptor (ER). MGOs accumulated lipids, expressed {beta}-casein upon prolactin stimulation, and retained lineage fidelity after serial passaging. Upon transplantation into cleared mouse mammary fat pads, MGOs generated branched mammary ductal networks. Single-cell transcriptomics confirmed the emergence of basal, luminal hormone-sensing, luminal secretory, and stromal populations, transcriptionally aligned with adult human breast epithelium and responsive to endocrine disruption. These findings demonstrate that hiPSCs can be reprogrammed into functional mammary epithelium, providing a platform to dissect development, endocrine signalling, and breast cancer pathogenesis.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Leiden University"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "R. R. Nair"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Ganne"
    },
    {
      "name": "L. Mourao"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. E. Le Devedec"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. L. G. J. Scheele"
    },
    {
      "name": "P. Bouwman"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "B. van de Water"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dg6yc5ksthm19.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762519",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762519v1.full",
  "id": "dg6yc5ksthm19",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762519v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "cell biology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762519v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dg6yc5ksthm19.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:21:20Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762519",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762519v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:cell biology",
      "subfield": "cell-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Functional Mammary Gland Organoids From Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells",
  "title_text": "Functional Mammary Gland Organoids From Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T00:21:15Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dg6yc5ksthm19",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}