The growth hormone-prolactin gene family in mammals is an interesting example of evolution by gene duplication. Divergence among members of duplicated gene families and among species was examined by using reported gene sequences of growth hormone, prolactin and their receptors. Sequence divergence among species was found to show a general tendency in which a generation-time effect is pronounced...

OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to analyze a possible association between cognitive functions and level of prolactin in menopausal women with different polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E gene (APOE). The examined population included women from the south-eastern part of Poland; aged 50-65 years; at least 2 years after their last menstruation; in good health; with at least primary educati...

Introduction: Pheromones play a great role in the reproductive and social behavior of animals. The main sources of pheromones are urine and paracrine secretions. Through the neuroendocrine system, prolactin is a safe parameter to measure and compare the effects of pheromones on the sexual, maternal and also lactating behavior. Methods: Female rats were divided into 19 groups (n=8). To measur...

Lactotrophs are one of the five secretory anterior pituitary cell types specialized to synthesize and release prolactin. In vitro, these cells fire action potentials (APs) spontaneously and the accompanied Ca(2+) transients are of sufficient amplitude to keep the exocytotic pathway, the transcription of prolactin gene, and de novo hormone synthesis continuously active. Basal cyclic nucleotide p...

BACKGROUND During the menstrual cycle, the ovarian steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone control a dramatic transcriptional reprogramming of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) leading to a receptive state for blastocyst implantation and the establishment of pregnancy. A key marker gene of this decidualization process is the prolactin gene. Several transcriptional regulators have been identif...

Gene expression in living cells is highly dynamic, but temporal patterns of gene expression in intact tissues are largely unknown. The mammalian pituitary gland comprises several intermingled cell types, organised as interdigitated networks that interact functionally to generate co-ordinated hormone secretion. Live-cell imaging was used to quantify patterns of reporter gene expression in disper...

Change in photoperiod is a key proximal factor timing seasonal breeding at higher latitudes. Photoperiodic information is transduced in the neuroendocrine system to regulate the secretion of neuropeptides, gonadotropin releasing hormoneI (GnRH-I) and a vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, which respectively regulate the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin. The initiation of photoind...

Primary cultures of bovine mammary secretory epithelial cells and spontaneously transformed mammary secretory epithelial cells were treated with estradiol 17-ß or prolactin separately and in combination with both hormones. Both estradiol and prolactin induced BRCA1 expression in the cells. Hormone induced expression of BRCA1 was highest in transformed cells. Moreover, the induction of BRCA1 gen...

Although prolactin and interleukin 2 (IL-2) can elicit distinct physiological responses, we have found that their signal pathways share a common signal transducer and activator of transcription, STAT5. STAT5 was originally identified as a mammary gland factor induced by prolactin in lactating breast cells. Here we demonstrate that STAT5 is activated after IL-2 stimulation of two responsive lymp...

UNLABELLED Tuberoinfundibular dopamine (TIDA) neurons, known as neuroendocrine regulators of prolactin secretion from the pituitary gland, also release GABA within the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. As these neurons express prolactin receptors (Prlr), prolactin may regulate GABA secretion from TIDA neurons, potentially mediating actions of prolactin on hypothalamic function. To investigate wheth...