Retinoic acid enhances cell responses to epidermal growth factor in mouse mammary gland in culture.

Addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF) at up to 100 ng/ml to the medium of cultured explants of mouse mammary gland increased thymidine incorporation into DNA dose dependently. Addition of retinoic acid alone at 10 micrograms/ml to the medium had no significant effect on DNA synthesis, but addition of EGF with retinoic acid enhanced the EGF-stimulated DNA synthesis. Furthermore, pretreatment of mammary explants with retinoic acid enhanced the effect of EGF plus retinoic acid on cell growth. EGF inhibited the synthesis of casein and decreased alpha-lactalbumin activity of mammary explants in culture in the presence of insulin, cortisol, and PRL. Retinoic acid alone had no significant effect on the synthesis of casein, but suppressed alpha-lactalbumin activity dose dependently. Concomitant addition of retinoic acid with EGF had no significant effect on EGF-induced inhibition of casein synthesis, but enhanced EGF-induced inhibition of alpha-lactalbumin activity dose dependently. Measurement of specific binding of [125I]EGF to mouse mammary glands in culture demonstrated that pretreatment of the explants with retinoic acid slightly, but significantly, enhanced the specific binding of EGF to its cellular receptors.