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Data are controversial concerning the time when PRL-synthesizing cells are detected for the first time in the rat pituitary. Using a very sensitive immunocytochemical technique, we could visualize only a few PRL cells before day 10 after birth. At that time, pituitary PRL was still 200 times less abundant than in the adult (on a tissue weight basis) whereas PRL mRNA per mg total RNA was only 80 times lower than in the adult. However, by in situ hybridization, we could demonstrate the presence of PRL mRNA in cells from fetal day 18 on. We have also followed the expression of GH gene in rat pituitary cells during development. In contrast to results obtained with PRL cells, quantitative analysis of cDNA probe hybridization to GH mRNA correlated well with measurements of immunostained cells. We found that PRL was released in the blood from fetal day 19 onwards. Thus, at that time PRL is synthesized and secreted but not stored. We therefore measured brain dopamine levels, and the data support the idea that the rise in dopamine levels after birth contributes to PRL storage. We confirmed in vitro that newborn pituitary cells can store PRL when cultured in the presence of dopamine.

From a human pituitary cDNA library, we have cloned 3 distinct human growth hormone (hGH) cDNAs, coding respectively for the 22 K hGH, the 20 K variant, and a yet unknown 17.5 K variant. S1 mapping analysis using human pituitary RNA confirms the existence of at least four distinct hGH mRNAs originating from alternative acceptor sites at the second intron of the primary transcript. We have analysed the hGH gene sequence to explain the high frequency of alternative splicings which occur only at this location. In this study we propose CTTGNNPyPyPy as an additional consensus sequence guiding the selection of the branched nucleotide.

In cultured rat pituitary cells, glucocorticoids regulate growth hormone production by modulating the number of growth hormone messenger RNA molecules. The effect is quite specific, since only a few other mRNAs are affected by the hormones. This response is demonstrated by assays involving cell-free mRNA translation and cDNA-RNA hybridization. Furthermore, the inducibility by the glucocorticoids is regulated by at least one other class of hormones, thyroid hormone. Thus, this system serves as a model for studying not only the glucocorticoid regulation of specific mRNA, but also the control of this regulation by other factors in the target tissue.

The human genes coding for growth hormone (GH), chorionic somatomammotropin (placental lactogen, CS), and prolactin (Prl) are related evolutionarily but are expressed in phenotypically distinct cell types despite their nucleotide sequence homology. We show here that the promoters of the human Prl and CS genes contain cis-acting sequences that confer pituitary-specific expression in a cell-free transcription assay. Similar data are obtained with the human GH gene, consistent with earlier work by others. Footprinting analysis shows that neighboring sequences in each of these three promoters are protected from deoxyribonuclease I digestion by rat pituitary cell extracts. Footprinting competition experiments and gel retardation assays with synthetic oligonucleotides suggest that a single factor is responsible for the pituitary-specific footprints seen on the human Prl, CS, and GH genes. They also suggest that this factor is identical or closely related to the trans-acting factor GHF-1/Pit-1. Similarities with and differences from the rat GH and Prl genes are discussed.

Dopamine (DA) and DA agonists bind with high affinity to anterior pituitary receptors which mediate the inhibition of PRL release. Spiperone (SPIP), a DA antagonist, has also been successfully used to characterize pituitary DA receptors with a dissociation constant (Kd) of less than 1 nM. We studied the binding of SPIP to GH3D6 cells which secrete only PRL and GH. This clone was derived from a radiation-induced tumor of the rat anterior pituitary. Equilibrium binding of [3H]SPIP to living GH3 cells showed no high affinity receptors, but a low affinity (Kd = 0.83 microM) and saturable (0.06 fmol/cell) population of sites was observed. In addition, saturable binding with a similar affinity (Kd = 0.57 microM) was noted in broken GH3 cells. The interaction was completely reversible and temperature dependent. The concentration of various ligands required to compete for half of the [3H]SPIP binding to whole cells were: chlorpromazine, 0.17 microM; haloperidol, 0.68 microM; pimozide, 0.77 microM; d-butaclamol, 1.16 microM; 1-butaclamol, 1.30 microM; SPIP, 1.49 microM; bromergocryptine, 4.98 microM; apomorphine, 13.9 microM; and DA, 100 microM. The absence of a high affinity site in GH3 cells is consistent with the decreased effectiveness of various agonists and antagonists on PRL secretion. It is possible that the low affinity interactions observed in GH3 cells are normally present in the anterior pituitary and brain and do not simply represent an alteration of receptor affinity.

Expression of the SRIH gene was investigated in six human normal anterior pituitaries, six GH-, three PRL-, three mixed GH/PRL-secreting and four nonsecreting adenomas. Total cellular RNA and poly(A+) mRNAs were analyzed by dot and Northern blot hybridization to a 3'-end labeled oligonucleotide probe specific for the human pre-proSRIH mRNA. A weak but detectable pre-proSRIH hybridization signal was present in human normal anterior pituitaries and in the four groups of adenomas. The size of this pre-proSRIH mRNA was indistinguishable from that found in our hypothalamic samples and close to that described in the literature. The wide variation of the signal intensity from one case to the other in each group of the different types of normal and tumoral antehypophyseal samples prevented establishment of any correlation between the level of pre-proSRIH mRNA and the nature of the pituitary tissue. The presence of SRIH mRNA in human normal and tumoral anterior pituitary tissues provides a sound basis to substantiate the hypothesis of a SRIH biosynthesis in the human anterior pituitary gland.

A 4.9-kb DNA fragment containing the bla gene for the extracellular beta-lactamase (BLA) of Streptomyces albus G was cloned in Streptomyces lividans using the conjugative, low-copy-number plasmid pIJ61 as vector. No expression of bla was observed when this DNA fragment was introduced into Escherichia coli HB101 on a plasmid vector. A 1.5-kb PstI-SstI fragment containing the bla gene was cloned in S. lividans on the nonconjugative, high-copy-number plasmid pIJ702. A tenfold higher yield of BLA was obtained from S. lividans carrying this plasmid than from S. albus G grown under optimal production conditions. The BLA from the clone reacts with beta-iodopenicillanate according to a branched pathway which is characteristic of the original S. albus G BLA enzyme.

The rat pituitary tumor derived cell lines of the "GH" family offer a fruitful model for studying the expressions of the prolactin (rPRL) and growth hormone (rGH) genes in basic and regulated states. In order to assess the potential role of DNA methylation in the basic expressions of rPRL and rGH genes we have used different cell strains which produce either high level of rPRL (GH3B6 cells) or of rGH (GC cells) and minute amounts of both hormones (GH3CDL cells). The cleavage patterns generated by the methylation sensitive enzymes Hpa II and Msp I indicated an inverse correlation between the extent of gene methylation and the level of expression. However the use of 5-azacytidine which decreases DNA methylation suggested a variable importance of gene methylation in the respective control of rPRL and rGH genes depending on the cell lines. In an other hand we attempted to elucidate some of the mechanisms by which thyroliberin (TRH) enhances rPRL gene transcription in GH3B6 cells. Preliminary results indicated that the persistent occupancy of the TRH receptors was required to sustain at least for the first 5 hours the increased rate of rPRL gene transcription. In addition the possible relationship between the TRH-induced acute rPRL release and the stimulation of rPRL gene transcription was investigated. The results suggested that the activators of the C kinase-mediated pathway which are actually involved in the stimulation of the acute release were not sufficient alone for eliciting the maximum TRH response at the gene level.

Our aim was to identify new human proteins with potential DNA binding activity, related to the Krüppel protein which regulates Drosophila segmentation. We screened a human placenta cDNA library and a human genomic DNA library with a synthetic oligonucleotide probe corresponding to the H/C link region that connects finger loops in the multifingered Krüppel protein. We found more than 100 different mRNAs encoding Krüppel multifingered proteins in the human placenta. In the whole human genome, the number of genes encoding such proteins reaches about 300. Sequence analysis of 14 cloned cDNAs indicated that they code for at least nine undescribed human finger proteins. The sequences of the 106 finger repeats present in these nine proteins are highly homologous. Most of the variability lies in a limited number of positions located in their postulated alpha-helical structure, and therefore could be implicated in their DNA-binding specificity.