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Increasing evidence suggests that functions of the immune system and gonads are closely related with each other. In cultures of granulosa and luteal cells, macrophages have been shown to modulate steroidogenic functions. In this paper we present the modulatory effects of interleukin-1, a cytokine produced predominantly by activated macrophages, on gonadotropin-induced differentiation, as well as growth of cultured porcine granulosa cells.

Total RNAs extracted from amnion, chorion and decidua of the human second trimester placentas were translated in the cell-free translation system, followed by immunoprecipitation with antiserum to human prolactin (Prl) and electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate slab gel. A single immunospecific protein with an apparent molecular weight of approximately 25,500, about 3000 daltons larger than authentic Prl, was formed only with RNA from decidua, and it competed with unlabeled Prl but not with unlabeled human placental lactogen (hPL) for binding to the antibody. The electrophoretic patterns of the fragments formed by partial enzymatic proteolysis of it and authentic Prl were similar.