Milk-fat synthesis by lobules prepared from rabbit mammary gland: response to insulin, corticosterone, prolactin and progesterone

The endocrine regulation of milk lipid synthesis and secretion in tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

Lipids in tammar milk are predominantly triacylglycerols, and the fatty acid composition varies during the lactation cycle. Little is known about the regulation of their synthesis. This study investigates the endocrine regulation of lipid synthesis in mammary explants from pregnant tammars. Treatment of mammary explants with insulin resulted in a high level of lipid synthesis, but the lipids accumulated in the cytosol. Culture with prolactin resulted in a small increase in lipid synthesis, but electron microscopy showed lipid globules were synthesized in the mammary epithelial cells and secreted into the lumen. Culture with both insulin and prolactin demonstrated elevated levels of synthesis and secretion of lipid. Analysis of the type of fatty acids synthesized in these mammary explants showed that the initiation of synthesis of C(16:0), which also occurs in the first week of lactation, could be reproduced in the pregnant explants cultured with prolactin alone. However, treatment of mammary explants with hydrocortisone did not show a significant effect on lipid synthesis, secretion or the fatty acid synthesized. These results provide new information identifying the role of insulin and prolactin in regulating milk lipid synthesis and secretion in the tammar.

Effects of insulin, hydrocortisone and prolactin on cell morphology, growth and survival of mammary organoids from mid-pregnant mice cultured on collagen gels

Mammary epithelial organoids consisting of groups of lobular-alveolar acini were prepared from mid-pregnant mice and cultured for 24, 48, 96 and 192 hr on attached collagen gels in the presence of combinations of insulin, hydrocortisone and prolactin. The organoids rapidly attached to the gels and with all the combinations of hormones used colonies of cells spread out as a monolayer from the organoids within 48 hr. Although colony formation continued for up to 192 hr in culture, the maintenance of parental organoid structure after 96 and 192 hr was strongly favoured when hydrocortisone was present in the culture medium. The presence of hydrocortisone produced a dose-dependent increase in the amount of organoid DNA associated with the collagen substratum but decreased the rate of DNA synthesis by the organoids, as measured by the incorporation of labelled thymidine into DNA, in a dose-dependent manner under these conditions. The results suggest that the presence of hydrocortisone minimised the loss of cells from the collagen matrix in these cultures.

Variation among species in the endocrine control of mammary growth and function: the roles of prolactin, growth hormone, and placental lactogen

Prolactin, growth hormone, and placental lactogen form a family of structurally related hormones, which may have evolved from a common ancestral peptide. Prolactin and growth hormone are present in all mammals, but the biological activity associated with placental lactogen has been detected in only some groups. Attempts to detect placental lactogen using bioassay and radioreceptor assay are reported and have been unsuccessful in an insectivore (the shrew), a bat, an edentate (the armadillo), a lagomorph (the rabbit), several carnivores (dog, cat, ferret), perissodactyls (horse, zebra, rhino), and, within the artiodactyls, pigs. Placental lactogenic activity has been detected in primates (chimpanzee, orangutan), rodents (voles, Pinon mouse, guinea-pig, mara), and in numerous artiodactyls (llama, giraffe, several species of deer, antelope, gnu, gazelle, musk ox, cape buffalo, Barbary sheep, several sheep of the genus Ovis, goat, and cow). These results confirm and extend the work of others and are discussed in relation to the evolution of these hormones. In synergism with steroid and thyroid hormones, protein hormones of the prolactin and growth hormone family play a crucial role in stimulating the development of the mammary gland, the differentiation and function of mammary cells to secrete milk, and in the systemic adjustments in maternal metabolism in pregnancy and lactation. Studies in vitro have shown that mammary tissues from several species synthesize milk components in response to insulin plus adrenal corticoid plus prolactin. However, there are also species differences in minimal hormonal requirements for lactogenesis. In vivo, for example, rabbits will initiate or sustain lactation in response to prolactin alone, whereas sheep and goats require prolactin plus growth hormone plus adrenal corticoid plus thyroid hormone. Measurement of hormone concentrations in the plasma of pregnant animals shows considerable differences among species in the pattern of secretion of lactogenic hormones to bring about mammary development. A surge of prolactin secretion occurs at parturition but may not be essential in the initiation of lactation. The timing of progesterone withdrawal correlates well with lactogenesis in eutherian mammals, but species differ in the mechanisms at parturition which bring this about. Marsupials show a quite different pattern of suckling-induced lactation. In maintaining lactation the greatest contrast is between ruminants, in which growth hormone is of particular importance, and other mammals, in which reduction of prolactin secretion with bromocriptine rapidly suppresses milk synthesis and secretion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)