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PMID: 7534043 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Expression of prolactin and prolactin receptor in human breast carcinoma. Evidence for an autocrine/paracrine loop.

The American journal of pathology ·Vol. 146 ·No. 3 ·1995-03-00 ·Pages 695-705

Clevenger CV, Chang WP, Ngo W, Pasha TL, Montone KT, Tomaszewski JE

Abstract

The neuroendocrine hormone prolactin is a growth factor required for the proliferation and terminal differentiation of the human breast. These effects are mediated by the prolactin receptor, a member of the growth factor receptor family. Three prolactin receptor isoforms (long, intermediate, and short) have been identified in the rat, which differ in the length of their intracytoplasmic domains. In humans, however, only the long prolactin receptor isoform had been identified previously. The expression of the human intermediate prolactin receptor is demonstrated and preliminary evidence for a human short isoform is presented. Heterogeneous expression of prolactin receptor, at the immunoblot and immunohistochemical levels was observed in breast carcinoma specimens. A statistically significant correlation between prolactin receptor and estrogen receptor expression was noted. An autocrine/paracrine role for prolactin within breast tissues was further examined by performing reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction on RNA isolated from cell lines and clinical specimens with prolactin-specific primers. A 585-bp product was observed and found to be identical to human prolactin. The synthesis of prolactin by breast epithelium was confirmed by in situ hybridization analysis of breast tissues and the detection of bio- and immunoreactive prolactin in breast cancer lines. These analyses indicate that the principal site for prolactin expression within the normal or malignant breast residues within the epithelium. These data indicate that prolactin may participate in an autocrine/paracrine stimulatory loop within breast tissues and suggest a role for this growth factor in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Base Sequence Breast/metabolism Breast Neoplasms/metabolism Carcinoma/metabolism Female Hormones/physiology Humans Isomerism Molecular Probes/genetics Molecular Sequence Data Prolactin/genetics,metabolism RNA/metabolism Receptors, Prolactin/chemistry,genetics,metabolism Reference Values
Chemicals
Hormones Molecular Probes Receptors, Prolactin RNA Prolactin
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Clevenger C V
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia 19104.
Chang W P
Ngo W
Pasha T L
Montone K T
Tomaszewski J E
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Article Info
Journal
The American journal of pathology
Abbr.
Am J Pathol
ISSN
0002-9440
Published
1995-03-00
Pages
695-705
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0370502
PMCID
PMC1869171
Subset
IM
Grants
NIAID NIH HHS · R29 AI33510 · United States
Databases
GENBANK
S75672
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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