Hormonal activation of mammary gland peroxidase.

Ultrastructural cytochemistry was used to detect an endogenous peroxidase in the rat mammary gland. The enzyme was identified only during the latter half of pregnancy and during lactation, indicating its possible dependence upon hormones. To test this hypothesis, specific hormones associated with the development and differentiation of the mammary gland were used both in vivo and in vitro in an effort to induce, or unmask, the activity of the enzyme. Estrogen injected into nonpregnant rats induced some peroxidase activity in the mammary glands of a few animals. Two hormone combinations tested in organ cultures of mouse mammary gland were able to activate the enzyme: (1) dexamethasone + insulin and (2) dexamethasone + insulin + prolactin.     

Glucocorticoid stimulation of choline kinase activity during the development of mouse mammary gland.

Mouse mammary gland contains choline kinase activity that can be stimulated by polyamines. Developmental studies show that the activity of choline kinase in mammary gland is low in both virgin and nonpregnant primiparous animals but increases severalfold during pregnancy and reaches a maximal level during the lactation period. Similar increases in enzyme activity are observed by cultivation of tissue explants in the presence of insulin, cortisol, and prolactin, a combination of hormones which induces the ultrastructural and biochemical changes associated with the development of mammary gland during pregnancy and lactation. The increase in enzyme activity in cultured explants is dependent only on the actions of both insulin and cortisol and parallels the formation of rough endoplasmic reticulum, which is effected by the same combination of hormones. The hormonal stimulation of choline kinase activity appears to involve the action of spermidine, a polyamine which accumulates in the cells under the influence of cortisol and mimicks the effect of cortisol on milk-protein synthesis in cultured explants.     

Presence of cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity in rat mammary gland

The cytosolic P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase activity was measured in mammary gland and liver of animals at all stages of the reproductive cycle. The specific activity of this enzyme was almost absent in the mammary gland of virgin rats. Different pattern of P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase activity was obtained in liver and mammary gland during lactation cycle. The specific activity of the enzyme increased more than 40-fold in mammary gland and 2-fold in liver during the transition from mid-pregnancy to mid-lactation. Weaning of mid-lactating rats for 48 h resulted in an abrupt change in the enzyme activity in mammary gland while there was a small change in liver. In all the experiments performed, the activity of P-enolpyruvate correlates inversely with the plasma insulin levels described for the lactogenic process.     

The effect of experimental hypothyroidism on phosphofructokinase activity and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate concentrations in rat heart.

Experimental hypothyroidism was induced in rats by the administration of NaClO4. Hearts from normal and hypothyroid rats were homogenized, and the extracts were assayed for phosphofructokinase-1 and phosphofructokinase-2 activity and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate concentrations. Hypothyroidism was associated with a drastic loss of phosphofructokinase-1 activity. A hyperbolic relationship between plasma thyroxine concentrations and phosphofructokinase-1 activity was found. As treatment with NaClO4 progressed, the decrease in blood thyroxine was faster than the decrease in enzyme activity. After prolonged hypothyroidism (a decrease in thyroxine of more than 10-fold), a 4-fold decrease in phosphofructokinase-1 activity was observed. In this metabolic condition 2-fold decreases in phosphofructokinase-2 activity and in fructose 2,6-bisphosphate were observed. A similar decrease in phosphofructokinase-1 activity in a partially purified preparation was found. The addition of L-thyroxine in the diet had little effect on phosphofructokinase-1 activity. However, exposure of minced pieces of hearts of hypothyroid rats to tri-iodothyronine for 5 h resulted in a clear increase in phosphofructokinase-1 activity, which was partially prevented by the simultaneous addition of cycloheximide. These results could account for the decrease in carbohydrate metabolism in heart from hypothyroid rats.     

Ca2+-stimulated ribonuclease. A new marker enzyme of differentiated rat mammary tissues.

A unique ribonuclease, active only in the presence of Ca2+, was present in lactating mammary gland and milk of the rat. This enzyme was absent from virgin-rat mammary gland and non-mammary tissues of lactating rats. The presence of moderate activity in differentiated mammary tumours, together with an increase in activity in normal tissue parelleling development of mammary function, identify this enzyme as a marker of mammary differentiation in the rat.     

Regulation of the activity of ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in mammary gland and liver of lactating rats. Effects of starvation, prolactin and insulin deficiency.

1. Starvation caused a marked decrease in the activity of ornithine decarboxylase in mammary gland, together with a lesser decrease in the activity of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase and a marked fall in milk production. Liver ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activities were unaffected. 2. Refeeding for 2.5 h was without effect on ornithine decarboxylase in mammary gland, but it returned the S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity in mammary gland to control values and elevated both ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in liver. 3. Refeeding for 5 h returned the activity of ornithine decarboxylase in mammary gland to fed-state values and resulted in further increases in S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in mammary gland and liver and in ornithine decarboxylase in liver. 4. Prolactin deficiency in fed rats resulted in decreased milk production and decreased activity of ornithine decarboxylase in mammary gland. The increase in ornithine decarboxylase activity normally seen after refeeding starved rats for 5 h was completely blocked by prolactin deficiency. 5. In fed rats, injection of streptozotocin 2.5 h before death caused a decrease in the activities of ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in mammary gland, which could be reversed by simultaneous injection of insulin. Insulin deficiency also prevented the increase in S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in liver and mammary gland normally observed after refeeding starved rats for 2.5 h.     

Effect of prolactin and glucocorticoids on P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase activity in liver and mammary gland from diabetic and lactating rats

Summary The administration of 2 bromo--ergocryptine, to reduce serum prolactin decreased the activity of cytosolic P-enolpyruvatc carboxykinase (GTP) (EC4.1.1.32) about 50% in both liver and mammary gland of lactating animals. Adrenalectomy had similar effects to those of bromo-a-ergocryptine. In contrast, there was a 50% increase in enzyme activity in the mammary gland of diabetic, lactating rats and a 10-fold increase in liver as compared with normal rats. P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase activity in mammary gland as liver is coordinately regulated by prolactin, glucocorticoids and insulin.     

Control of glycolysis in cultured chick embryo hepatocytes. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate content and phosphofructokinase-1 activity are stimulated by insulin and epidermal growth factor.

Chick embryo hepatocytes were maintained in monolayer culture in a serum-free chemically defined medium for periods of up to 2 days. Over this time period, insulin provoked selective increases (up to 5-fold) in factors relevant to the control of glycolysis: the activities of phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK-1), phosphofructokinase-2 (PFK-2) and hexokinase isoenzymes and the content of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F26BP). Half-maximal effects of insulin on pFK-1 activity were in the physiological range (0.1 nM). Changes in enzyme activities and F26BP content in response to insulin were correlated with stimulation of glycolytic flux as estimated by radioisotopic flux. These data are discussed in relation to known changes which occur in hepatic glycolytic activity and PFK-1 activity in the intact chick around hatching. The effects of insulin on F26BP content, PFK-1 activity and glycolytic flux were mimicked by epidermal growth factor (EGF). In contrast, phorbol esters produced minimal actions on any of the above parameters. Our data indicate that protein kinase C is not involved in the actions of insulin or EGF in control of F26BP content or PFK-1 activity. This work indicates that the related tyrosyl kinase receptors of insulin and EGF may provoke identical responses within hepatocytes, but through the utilization of different transduction systems which merge to common control points.     

Characterization of an Escherichia coli K12 mutant that is sensitive to chlorate when grown aerobically.

1. The ;initial activity' of the pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme complex in whole tissue or mitochondrial extracts of lactating rat mammary glands was greatly decreased by 24 or 48h starvation of the rats. Injection of insulin and glucose into starved rats 60min before removal of the glands abolished this difference in ;initial activities'. 2. The ;total activity' of the enzyme complex in such extracts was revealed by incubation in the presence of free Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) ions (more than 10 and 0.1mm respectively) and a crude preparation of pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase. Starvation did not alter this ;total activity'. It is assumed that the decline in ;initial activity' of the enzyme complex derived from the glands of starved animals was due to increased phosphorylation of its alpha-subunit by intrinsic pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase. 3. Starvation led to an increase in intrinsic pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity in both whole tissue and mitochondrial extracts. Injection of insulin into starved animals 30min before removal of the lactating mammary glands abolished the increase in pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity in whole-tissue extracts. 4. Pyruvate (1mm) prevented ATP-induced inactivation of the enzyme complex in mitochondrial extracts from glands of fed animals. In similar extracts from starved animals pyruvate was ineffective. 5. Starvation led to a decline in activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase in mitochondrial extracts, but not in whole-tissue extracts. 6. These changes in activity of the intrinsic kinase and phosphatase of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of lactating rat mammary gland are not explicable by current theories of regulation of the complex.     

Reduction of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase activity in lactating rat mammary gland following starvation or insulin deprivation.

The initial rates of activation of inactivated pyruvate dehydrogenase from lactating rat mammary gland and from pig heart were employed to assay pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase activity in mammary gland mitochondrial extracts. 24 h-starvation or 3 h-deprivation of insulin diminished phosphatase activity compared to fed controls. Refeeding and insulin treatment of 24 h starved animals restored in 1 h control levels of phosphatase activity.     

The role of acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphorylation in the control of mammary gland fatty acid synthesis during the starvation and re-feeding of lactating rats.

Activation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase during incubation of crude extracts of lactating rat mammary gland with Mg2+ and citrate can be blocked by NaF, suggesting that it represents a dephosphorylation of the enzyme. The greater extent of activation in extracts from 24 h-starved rats (200%) compared with fed controls (70%) implies that the decrease in acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity in response to 24 h starvation may involve increased phosphorylation of the enzyme. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase was purified from the mammary glands of lactating rats in the presence of protein phosphatase inhibitors by avidin-Sepharose chromatography. Starvation of the rats for 24 h increased the concentration of citrate giving half-maximal activation by 75%, and decreased the Vmax. of the purified enzyme by 73%. This was associated with an increase in the alkali-labile phosphate content from 3.3 +/- 0.2 to 4.5 +/- 0.4 mol/mol of enzyme subunit. Starvation of lactating rats for 6 h, or short-term insulin deficiency induced by streptozotocin injection, did not effect the kinetic parameters or the phosphate content of acetyl-CoA carboxylase purified from mammary glands. The effects of 24 h starvation on the kinetic parameters and phosphate content of the purified enzyme were completely reversed by re-feeding for only 2.5 h. This effect was blocked if the animals were injected with streptozotocin before re-feeding, suggesting that the increase in plasma insulin that occurs on re-feeding was responsible for the activation of the enzyme. The effects of re-feeding 24 h-starved rats on the kinetic parameters and phosphate content of acetyl-CoA carboxylase could be mimicked by treating enzyme purified from 24 h-starved rats with protein phosphatase-2A in vitro. Our results suggest that, in mammary glands of 24 h-starved lactating rats, insulin brings about a dephosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in vivo, which may be at least partly responsible for the reactivation of mammary lipogenesis in response to re-feeding.     

Polyamine biogenesis in the rat mammary gland during pregnancy and lactation

Polyamines and RNA accumulate in the rat mammary gland during pregnancy, but the major increases occur after parturition. Therefore the major increases occur after the gland has obtained its maximal complement of epithelial cells. During lactation, the spermidine concentration rises above 5mm and RNA content in the lactating mammary gland reaches a value 16 times that of the unstimulated mammary gland. The ratio of spermidine/spermine, an increase of which initially signals an elevation in biosynthetic activity, is near 1 in the normal mammary gland and is greater than 10 in the lactating mammary gland. Putrescine concentration is very low during the entire course of mammary-gland development, with the exception of early pregnancy. The low putrescine concentration probably reflects the very rapid conversion of putrescine into spermidine. Both ornithine decarboxylase, the enzyme that synthesizes putrescine, and putrescine-stimulated S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase, the enzyme that synthesizes spermidine, increase in activity during middle and late pregnancy; during lactation, both enzyme activities are elevated until the 21st day of lactation, and then decline. These declines are concomitant with involution. Also, it was found that the amount of ribonuclease activity in the mammary gland was very high during lactation, almost double that in the gland during pregnancy.     

Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes Decreases Mammary Gland Lipoprotein Lipase Activity and Messenger Ribonucleic Acid in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Rats

Diabetes mellitus is associated with a reduction of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity in adipose tissue and development of hypertriglyceridemia. To determine how a condition of severe insulin deficiency affects mammary gland LPL activity and mRNA expression during late pregnancy, streptozotocin (STZ) treated (40 mg/kg) and non-treated (control) virgin and 20 day pregnant rats were studied. In control rats, both LPL activity and mRNA were higher in pregnant than in virgin rats. When compared to control rats, STZ-treated rats, either pregnant or virgin, showed decreased LPL activity and mRNA content. Furthermore, mammary gland LPL activity was linearly correlated with mRNA content, and either variable was linearly correlated with plasma insulin levels. Thus, insulin deficiency impairs the expression of LPL in mammary glands, revealing the role of insulin as a modulator of the enzyme at the mRNA expression level.     

Re-examination of the putative roles of insulin and prolactin in the regulation of lipid deposition and lipogenesis in vivo in mammary gland and white and brown adipose tissue of lactating rats and litter-removed rats.

1. The effects of various treatments to alter either plasma prolactin (bromocryptine administration or removal of litter) or the metabolic activity of the mammary gland (unilateral or complete teat sealing) on the disposal of oral [14C]lipid between 14CO2 production and [14C]lipid accumulation in tissues of lactating rats were studied. In addition, the rates of lipogenesis in vivo were measured in mammary gland, brown and white adipose tissue and liver. 2. Bromocryptine administration lowered plasma prolactin, but did not alter [14C]lipid accumulation in mammary gland or in white and brown adipose tissue. 3. In contrast, complete sealing of teats results in no change in plasma prolactin, but a 90% decrease in [14C]lipid accumulation in mammary gland and a 4-fold increase in white and brown adipose tissue. The rate of lipogenesis in mammary gland was decreased by 95%, but there was no change in the rate in white and brown adipose tissue. Unilateral sealing of teats resulted in a decrease in [14C]lipid accumulation in white adipose tissue. 4. Removal of the litter for 24 h (low prolactin) produced a similar pattern to complete teat sealing, except that there was a 6-fold increase in lipogenesis in white adipose tissue. Re-suckling for 5 h increased plasma prolactin, but did not alter the response seen in litter-removed lactating rats. 5. Changes in lipoprotein lipase activity and in plasma insulin paralleled the reciprocal changes in [14C]lipid accumulation in white and brown adipose tissue and in mammary gland. 6. It is concluded that the plasma insulin is more important than prolactin in regulating lipid deposition in adipose tissue during lactation, and that any effects of prolactin must be indirect.     

A role of thyroid hormones in differentiation of mouse mammary gland in vitro.

Addition of thyroxine or triiodothyronine to cultures of mammary gland explants in the presence of insulin, hydrocortisone and prolactin, results in a selective enhancement of the activity of the milk protein, α-lactalbumin. This effect, which is specific for the L-isomer of the thyroid hormones, is not mediated through diffusible activators of the enzyme activity.     

Regulation of lactating-rat mammary-gland lipogenesis by insulin and glucagon in vivo. The role and site of action of insulin in the transition to the starved state.

Starvation for 6h and 24h caused an 80% and 95% decrease in the rate of mammary-gland lipogenesis respectively in conscious lactating rats. 2. Plasma insulin concentrations decreased and circulating ketone-body concentrations increased with the length of starvation. 3. The inhibition of lipogenesis after 24h starvation was accompanied by increased concentrations of glucose, glucose 6-phosphate and citrate in the mammary gland. Qualitatively similar changes were observed after 6h starvation. 4. Infusion of insulin at physiological concentrations caused a 100% increase in the rate of lipogenesis in fed animals and partially reversed the inhibition of lipogenesis caused by starvation. 5. Infusion of insulin tended to reverse the changes seen in intracellular metabolite concentrations. 4. Infusion of glucagon into fed rats caused no change in the rates of lipogenesis in mammary gland, liver or white adipose tissue. 7. It is concluded that (a) insulin acts physiologically to regulate lipogenesis in the mammary gland, (b) hexokinase and phosphofructokinase are important regulatory enzymes in the short-term control of lipogenesis in the mammary gland, which are under the influence of insulin, and (c) the unresponsiveness of mammary-gland lipogenesis in vivo to infusions of glucagon is consistent with an adaptive mechanism which diverts substrate towards the lactating mammary gland and away from other tissues.     

Propionyl-CoA synthetase in mammary gland and liver of cows

Propionyl-CoA synthetase of liver and mammary gland from calf and midlactation cow was investigated. No activity of this enzyme was detected in calf mammary gland, but it was detected in calf liver. Propionyl-CoA synthetase was found in both, liver and mammary gland of the cow, although mammary gland activity was about 25% of that found in liver. The effects of pH and temperature on enzyme activity and stability were also investigated in crude extracts of liver and mammary gland tissues. The results suggest a different behaviour of the enzyme from both origins. Kinetic studies of the enzyme were also carried out, showing differences, depending on the organ, in the apparent substrate KM values.     

Comparison of alkaline phosphatase activity in normal, lactating and neoplastic rat mammary tissue

1. Alkaline phosphatase activity in NMU-induced rat mammary tumours was compared with activity in normal and lactating mammary gland. 2. Both tumour and normal mammary alkaline phosphatase were sensitive to heat inactivation and inhibition by phenylalanine. 3. Specific activity of enzyme in tumours was comparable to normal mammary tissue. 4. Mammary gland alkaline phosphatase increased markedly in late pregnancy and early lactation. 5. Bromocryptine treatment had no effect on enzyme activity in lactating mammary gland.     

Activation of rat heart phosphofructokinase-2 by insulin in vivo

Fifteen minutes after the intravenous injection of overnight starved, anaesthetized rats with insulin, the concentration of fructose 2,6-biphosphate was increased more than 2-fold in the hearts of these animals. Insulin injection also caused a 2-3 fold increase in the Vmax of phosphofructokinase-2 with no detectable change in Km values. The effect persisted after precipitation of the enzyme with polyethylene glycol or after gel filtration through Sephadex G-25.