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The tammar wallaby: A marsupial model to examine the timed delivery and role of bioactives in milk

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journal contribution
posted on 2017-04-01, 00:00 authored by Julie Sharp, Stephen Wanyonyi, Vengama Naidu Modepalli, Ashalyn WattAshalyn Watt, S Kuruppath, L A Hinds, Amit Kumar, H E Abud, Christophe Lefevre, Kevin Nicholas
It is now clear that milk has multiple functions; it provides the most appropriate nutrition for growth of the newborn, it delivers a range of bioactives with the potential to stimulate development of the young, it has the capacity to remodel the mammary gland (stimulate growth or signal cell death) and finally milk can provide protection from infection and inflammation when the mammary gland is susceptible to these challenges. There is increasing evidence to support studies using an Australian marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), as an interesting and unique model to study milk bioactives. Reproduction in the tammar wallaby is characterized by a short gestation, birth of immature young and a long lactation. All the major milk constituents change substantially and progressively during lactation and these changes have been shown to regulate growth and development of the tammar pouch young and to have roles in mammary gland biology. This review will focus on recent reports examining the control of lactation in the tammar wallaby and the timed delivery of milk bioactivity.

History

Journal

General and Comparative Endocrinology

Volume

244

Pagination

164 - 177

ISSN

0016-6480

eISSN

1095-6840

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2016, The Authors