Inefficient secretion of human H27A-prolactin, a mutant that does not bind Zn2+

Human PRL binds Zn2+, but the function of the binding is not known. We investigated the effect on PRL production in pituitary cells by obtaining clones of GH4C1 cells stably transfected with human H27A-PRL, a mutant that does not bind Zn2+. Unexpectedly, clones transfected with the mutant human PRL made little rat PRL. Untransfected GH4C1 cells made between 0.5 to 10 μg rat PRL/105 cells in 24 h. Clones transfected with vector alone (four of four), wild type human PRL (six of six), or with human K69A-PRL (two of two) made amounts of rat PRL in the same range. Clones transfected with human H27A-PRL (five of five) made 0.003–0.1 μg rat PRL/105 cells in 24 h, and the production of rat PRL mRNA was reduced. Human H27A-PRL was not efficiently secreted; 20–40% newly synthesized H27A-PRL was degraded by 60 min, and there was usually a delay in release of newly synthesized H27A-PRL. Reduction of rat PRL production is not mediated through the PRL receptor, because no sequences for the receptor in GH4C1 cells were detected by RT-PCR. Proteins involved in folding, such as BiP, were not specifically elevated in the H27A-PRL clones. In transient transfections, in which cells have not undergone selection, we found no evidence for disulfide-bonded aggregates of the mutant protein. The results indicate that Zn2+ binding stabilizes PRL in the secretory pathway; the instablility of the mutant protein may trigger effects that suppress rat PRL production directly or that indirectly result in selection of clones with low rat PRL production.