Journal ArticleDOI
Prolactin: Structure, Function, and Regulation of Secretion
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive survey of the current understanding of prolactin's function and its regulation and to expose some of the controversies still existing.Abstract:
Prolactin is a protein hormone of the anterior pituitary gland that was originally named for its ability to promote lactation in response to the suckling stimulus of hungry young mammals. We now know that prolactin is not as simple as originally described. Indeed, chemically, prolactin appears in a multiplicity of posttranslational forms ranging from size variants to chemical modifications such as phosphorylation or glycosylation. It is not only synthesized in the pituitary gland, as originally described, but also within the central nervous system, the immune system, the uterus and its associated tissues of conception, and even the mammary gland itself. Moreover, its biological actions are not limited solely to reproduction because it has been shown to control a variety of behaviors and even play a role in homeostasis. Prolactin-releasing stimuli not only include the nursing stimulus, but light, audition, olfaction, and stress can serve a stimulatory role. Finally, although it is well known that dopamine of hypothalamic origin provides inhibitory control over the secretion of prolactin, other factors within the brain, pituitary gland, and peripheral organs have been shown to inhibit or stimulate prolactin secretion as well. It is the purpose of this review to provide a comprehensive survey of our current understanding of prolactin's function and its regulation and to expose some of the controversies still existing.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Mammalian G proteins and their cell type specific functions
TL;DR: In this review, some of the functions of heterotrimeric G proteins in defined cells and tissues are described.
Journal ArticleDOI
Dopamine as a prolactin (PRL) inhibitor.
Nira Ben-Jonathan,Robert Hnasko +1 more
TL;DR: PRL homeostasis should be viewed in the context of a fine balance between the action of dopamine as an inhibitor and the many hypothalamic, systemic, and local factors acting as stimulators, none of which has yet emerged as a primary PRL releasing factor.
Journal ArticleDOI
Pregnancy-stimulated neurogenesis in the adult female forebrain mediated by prolactin.
Tetsuro Shingo,Christopher Gregg,Emeka Enwere,Hirokazu Fujikawa,Rozina Hassam,Colleen Geary,James C. Cross,Samuel Weiss +7 more
TL;DR: It is shown that the production of neuronal progenitors is stimulated in the forebrain subventricular zone of female mice during pregnancy and that this effect is mediated by the hormone prolactin, implying that forebrain olfactory neurogenesis may contribute to adaptive behaviors in mating and pregnancy.
Journal ArticleDOI
Hormonal regulation of mammary differentiation and milk secretion.
TL;DR: Because a full-term pregnancy in early life is associated with a reduction in breast carcinogenesis, an understanding of the mechanisms by which these hormones bring about secretory differentiation may offer clues to the prevention of breast cancer.
Journal ArticleDOI
House Dust Concentrations of Organophosphate Flame Retardants in Relation to Hormone Levels and Semen Quality Parameters
TL;DR: OP flame retardants may be associated with altered hormone levels and decreased semen quality in men, and a suggestive inverse association between TDCPP and free androgen index became less evident in adjusted models.
References
More filters
Journal Article
Nitric oxide: physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology
Journal ArticleDOI
The obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetylcholine
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that relaxation of isolated preparations of rabbit thoracic aorta and other blood vessels by ACh requires the presence of endothelial cells, and that ACh, acting on muscarinic receptors of these cells, stimulates release of a substance(s) that causes relaxation of the vascular smooth muscle.
Journal ArticleDOI
A novel potent vasoconstrictor peptide produced by vascular endothelial cells.
Masashi Yanagisawa,Hiroki Kurihara,Hiroki Kurihara,Sadao Kimura,Yoko Tomobe,Mieko Kobayashi,Youji Mitsui,Yoshio Yazaki,Katsutoshi Goto,Tomoh Masaki +9 more
TL;DR: Cloning and sequencing of preproendothelin complementary DNA shows that mature endothelin is generated through an unusual proteolytic processing, and regional homologies to a group of neurotoxins suggest that endothelins is an endogenous modulator of voltage-dependent ion channels.
Journal Article
Evidence for the existence of monoamine-containing neurons in the central nervous system. i. demonstration of monoamines in the cell bodies of brain stem neurons.
Dahlstroem A,Fuxe K +1 more
Journal ArticleDOI
Nitric oxide as a secretory product of mammalian cells.
TL;DR: How different forms of nitric oxide synthase help confer specificity and diversity on the effects of this remarkable signaling molecule is reviewed.