Endogenous prolactin maintains its own binding sites in the pigeon crop sac mucosa.

The specific binding of lactoperoxidase-labelled 125I-labelled ovine prolactin was determined in a membrane particulate of the pigeon crop-sac mucosal epithelium. Binding was found to be dependent upon the particulate preparation used, its protein concentration and the length of the incubation at 5 degrees C. Scatchard analysis of the binding to crop-sacs from saline or prolactin-injected (1.9 microgram per pigeon) revealed that prolactin stimulated 7-fold its own receptors by increasing the number of binding sites per mg protein: saline - 392 +/- 75 fmol/mg protein and prolactin 2736 +/- 602 fmol/mg protein (p less than 0.01). This increase did not affect the affinity constant (Ka): saline - 5.28 +/- 0.75 x 10(8) l/mol and prolactin 3.28 +/- 0.40 x 10(8) l/mol (N.S.), in keeping with the stimulatory effect of prolactin in the rat liver and mammary glands. This study further demonstrates the physiological role of endogenous prolactin in maintaining its own binding-sites in the pigeon crop-sac, since the administration of 0.8 ml anti-serum to prolactin resulted in a 63% reduction in the specific binding of labelled hormone in vitro. These results confirm the prolactin binding to the pigeon crop-sac mucosa, quantify the stimulation of this binding by prolactin itself, and demonstrate the role of the endogenous hormone in the maintenance of these receptors.