Prolactin (PRL) receptor induction in cultured rat hepatocytes: dual regulation by PRL and growth hormone.

Although early work implicated PRL as the pituitary factor inducing rat hepatic PRL receptors, recent studies indicated that GH, not PRL, was responsible. The roles for these two hormones were evaluated on rat hepatocytes cultured in serum-free medium supplemented with insulin (1 microgram/ml), epidermal growth factor EGF (25 ng/ml), glucagon (500 ng/ml), cholera toxin (2 ng/ml), hydrocortisone (10(-8) M), and transferrin (1 microgram/ml) and changed daily. Ovine (o) PRL, bovine (b) GH, or human (h) GH were introduced after 2-4 days of culture, and PRL receptors were measured by determining [125I]hGH binding in the presence and absence of excess oPRL in a total particulate fraction pretreated with 3 M MgCl2. The specific binding of hGH (% per 100 micrograms protein) decreased by 8- to 10-fold (female, 17.9 +/- 0.2% to 1.5%; male, 7.0 +/- 0.1% to 0.7%) after 3 days in culture. When added after 3 days, hGH induced PRL receptors in both female and male cells with the effect being more gradual in the latter. Induction occurred with 10 ng/ml hGH and was maximal [11- to 13-fold control] at 250-1000 ng/ml. bGH and oPRL also induced PRL receptors with maximal levels attained at 250-500 ng/ml oPRL (3- to 4-fold control). The combined addition of oPRL (300 ng/ml) and bGH (300 ng/ml) yielded levels of induction comparable to that seen with hGH. Although hormone treatment restored PRL receptor levels to those seen in male rats, the much higher levels of female rats were not attained. Treatment of hepatocytes with hGH, bGH, or oPRL affected neither cell number (through 10 days of culture) nor PRL receptor affinity. At supramaximal doses hGH, PRL, and bGH down-regulated PRL receptors, but this was particularly noticeable for oPRL and hGH. 17 beta-Estradiol and testosterone added to male and female hepatocytes simultaneously with hGH had little or no effect on receptor induction. We conclude that hepatic PRL receptors are induced by both PRL and GH, each acting through its own receptor. The failure to restore receptor levels to those seen in female rats attests to the importance of other modulators. This dual regulation of the PRL receptor explains the unusual potency of hGH which binds to both PRL and GH receptors.