[Recent data on the mechanism of action of prolactin]

Prolactin is a hormone involved in the control of many functions, from osmoregulation in fishes to lactation in mammals. For that reason, the control of its secretion by hypophysis is particularly complex. Multiple factors of hypothalamic origin (dopamine, GABA, VIP, etc . . .) and hormones (oestrogens, TRH, thyroxine, . . .) are involved in this control. Prolactin molecule contains about 200 aminoacids. It has three disulfide bridges, of which one, at the center of the molecule, is required for the lactogenic activity. The expression of prolactin gene is dependent upon oestrogens, TRH, Ca++ ion and cAMP which favour its transcription. In contrast, dopaminergics such as CB 154 lower the expression rate of this gene. Prolactin receptor is located essentially on the plasma and intracellular membranes of target cells. Its essential binding part has a molecular weight of about 40,000. In mammary gland and liver prolactin receptor is up-regulated following a slow process. It is also down-regulated following a rapid and reversible process. In mammary gland, prolactin controls the expression of milk protein genes by enhancing their transcription rate and also by increasing the stability and the translation rate of the mRNAs. The transfer of the prolactin information to genes takes place through a relay which is released from plasma membrane when the receptor is occupied by the hormone or by anti-prolactin receptor antibodies. This relay which seems to be a small peptide (less than 1000 daltons and inactivated by trypsin) acts directly and specifically on isolated mammary nuclei via a dephosphorylation of nuclear proteins.