Institute of Biomedical Research, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Neuroendocrinology. 2013;98(3):171-9. doi: 10.1159/000354701. Epub 2013 Sep 19.
The anterior pituitary is permanently regulated by processes of apoptosis and proliferation in order to maintain tissue homeostasis. Several factors have been implicated in this regulation and lately, prolactin (PRL) has been included into that list. However, since PRL is secreted by anterior pituitary lactotropes, the actual outcome of its autocrine/paracrine actions on pituitary cells has remained difficult to assess. The availability of the pure PRL receptor antagonist Del1-9-G129R-hPRL has been helpful to circumvent this problem. While PRL has been traditionally associated with increased cell proliferation, recent studies revealed that this hormone actually induces apoptosis and decreases proliferation of anterior pituitary cells, by mechanisms involving the PRL receptor. The aim of this short review is to overview our current understanding of the regulation of pituitary homeostasis by PRL. Moreover, studies involving Del1-9-G129R-hPRL have helped anticipate to what extent future treatments involving PRL receptor inhibitors may interfere with processes regulated by PRL at the central level.
为了维持组织内环境稳定，垂体前叶通过细胞凋亡和增殖的过程来进行自我调节。有几种因子参与了这一过程的调节，最近，催乳素（PRL）也被列入其中。然而，由于 PRL 是由垂体前叶的催乳细胞分泌的，因此其对垂体细胞的自分泌/旁分泌作用的实际结果仍然难以评估。纯 PRL 受体拮抗剂 Del1-9-G129R-hPRL 的出现有助于解决这个问题。虽然 PRL 传统上与细胞增殖增加有关，但最近的研究表明，这种激素实际上通过涉及 PRL 受体的机制诱导细胞凋亡并减少垂体前叶细胞的增殖。本文的目的是概述我们目前对 PRL 调节垂体内环境稳定的理解。此外，涉及 Del1-9-G129R-hPRL 的研究有助于预测，未来涉及 PRL 受体抑制剂的治疗方法在多大程度上可能干扰 PRL 在中枢水平调节的过程。
