ABSTRACT

The effect of administration of bovine somatotrophin (bST) on peripheral conversion of thyroxine (T₄) to tri-iodothyronine (T₃) was studied in non-pregnant lactating Holstein cows. Six cows were injected daily for 5 days with 40 mg recombinantly derived bST, while six control cows received excipient alone. Blood samples were collected hourly from 08.00 to 19.00 h on a single day the week before treatment and on days 4–5 of treatment. All other tissue samples were obtained at slaughter, 20–23 h after the last injection.

Administration of bST increased milk production and caused a 9% increase in hepatic DNA. Consumption of feed did not differ between control and bST-treated cows. Treatment did not alter serum concentrations of T₄ or T₃, although concentrations of thyroid hormones in the serum increased from 08.00 to 19.00 h. Activity of thyroxine-5′-monodeiodinase (5′-D) in liver and kidney was similarly unaffected. However, activity of 5′-D in mammary tissue increased approximately twofold in response to bST administration. We suggest that an increase in mammary conversion of T₄ to the more biologically potent thyroid hormone T₃ plays a role in mediating the galactopoietic response of dairy cattle to bST.

Journal of Endocrinology (1989) 121, 205–211

ABSTRACT

Developmental variation in the expression of the prolactin receptor in the ruminant mammary gland was investigated. Affinity chromatography revealed that bovine prolactin and human GH each bound to the same mammary gland proteins, yielding fractions enriched in binding activity and a protein of M _r 36 000, assumed to be a bovine prolactin receptor. Affinity cross-linking of ¹²⁵I-labelled human GH to mammary microsomes confirmed that the M _r 36 000 protein was a bovine prolactin receptor. Binding assays of receptors in microsomes from the mammary tissue of cows and ewes at various stages of the lactational/reproductive cycle indicated developmental regulation of receptor concentration, but not receptor type, as no other bovine prolactin receptor type was detected by affinity cross-linking. These results suggest that differences in the response to prolactin in the mammary gland at various developmental stages in ruminants are not due to the expression of different forms of the prolactin receptor, and the lack of a prolactin effect on established lactation in ruminants is not due to the absence of the M _r 36 000 form of the prolactin receptor.

Journal of Endocrinology (1993) 139, 37–49

Abstract

Thyroxine 5′-deiodinase (5′D) catalyses deiodination of the prohormone thyroxine (T₄) to the metabolically active hormone 3,5,3′-tri-iodothyronine (T₃). Previously, it has been demonstrated that rat mammary gland expresses a 5′D with enzymatic properties equivalent to those of the type I enzyme (5′D-I) found in rat liver and kidney. Using complementary DNA (cDNA) for rat hepatic 5′D-I, we have examined expression of 5′D-I messenger RNA (mRNA) in liver, and mammary gland from virgin and lactating rats, and in seven other tissues from virgin rats. 5′D-I mRNA could not be detected in mammary gland either by Northern blotting or by the more sensitive technique of reverse transcribing mRNA and then amplifying the cDNA by polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). Analysis of the seven tissues from virgin rats by RT-PCR showed 5′D-I amplicons in liver, kidney and thyroid. No amplicons were detected in adrenal gland, cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle or spleen. In addition, the effect of lactation intensity on circulating thyroid hormones, hepatic and mammary gland 5′D activity, and hepatic 5′D-I mRNA levels was examined. A strong inverse relationship was noted between increased lactation intensity (suckling burden) and circulating T₄ and T₃, hepatic 5′D-I activity and hepatic 5′D-I mRNA levels. Mammary gland 5′D activity was positively correlated to lactation intensity. The data presented strongly suggest that the 5′D activity expressed in lactating mammary gland is encoded by a mRNA different from the 5′D-I message found in rat liver, kidney and thyroid gland, and may help explain the differential regulation of 5′D-I activity in these organs during lactation. In addition, hepatic 5′D-I activity was found to be correlated with the concentration of 5′D-I mRNA, suggesting that regulation is pretranslational. Results are consistent with a previously suggested involvement of 5′D in establishing metabolic adaptations to support lactation.

Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 142, 205–215

Ovaries are absolutely required for development of the mammary parenchyma (PAR) in cattle, reflecting estrogen-dependent epithelial cell proliferation. However, the estrogen receptor (ER) that mediates the mammary estrogen effects, ERα, is absent in proliferating epithelial cells. In the mouse, this discrepancy is explained in part by the ability of the mammary fat pad (MFP) to synthesize epithelial cell mitogens such as IGF-I in response to estrogen. Consistent with a similar role for the bovine MFP, 30% of its fibroblasts and adipocytes were immunoreactive for ERα in prepubertal dairy heifers. To assess estrogen-dependent gene expression in the MFP, 16 prepubertal dairy heifers were randomly assigned to a 2×2 factorial. The first factor was ovarian status, with heifers undergoing bilateral ovariectomy or left intact at 4.6 months of age. The second factor was applied 30 days after surgery and consisted of injection of estrogen or excipient. After 3 days of injection, heifers were administered an intrajugular bolus of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and slaughtered 2 h later. The estrogen injection, but not ovarian status, caused significant increases in the fraction of epithelial cells labeled with BrdU and produced tissue-specific effects on gene expression. In the PAR, estrogen injection increased IGF-I gene expression by twofold despite reductions of 50% or more in ERα mRNA abundance and the fraction of epithelial cells immunoreactive for ERα. The estrogen-dependent increase in IGF-I mRNA was greater in the MFP, presumably because estrogen failed to downregulate ERα expression in this mammary compartment. Finally, estrogen-responsiveness of the MFP appears unique among the bovine fat depots as estrogen injection did not induce IGF-I expression in its s.c. counterpart. Our data demonstrate that the bovine MFP is highly responsive to exogenous estrogen, consistent with a role for this tissue compartment in communicating its effects on epithelial cell proliferation.

In prepubertal cattle, mammary development is characterized by the growth of an epithelial-rich parenchyma (PAR) into the mammary fat pad (MFP). This proliferation and accumulation of mammary epithelial cells require estrogen. Paradoxically, both epithelial cell proliferation and PAR accumulation rate decline with rising plasma estrogen as puberty approaches. The possibility that variation in abundance of estrogen receptors (ERs) in PAR or MFP accounts for a portion of these effects has not been examined in cattle. Additionally, we recently demonstrated that MFP is highly responsive to exogenous estrogen, suggesting that this tissue may play a role in coordinating estrogen’s effects on PAR; however, the developing bovine MFP has yet to be studied in detail. To address these hypotheses, Holstein heifers were assigned to planes of nutrition supporting body growth rates of 950 (E) or 650 (R) g/day and harvested every 50 kg from 100 to 350 kg body weight (BW). Post-harvest, their mammary glands were dissected into PAR and MFP compartments. Transcript abundance of genes encoding members of the ER family (ERα, ERβ, and estrogen-related receptor α-1 (ERRα)) and estrogen-responsive genes (IGF-I and progesterone receptor (PR)) were measured in both mammary compartments by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Significant expression was detected for all genes in both compartments, with the exception of the ERβ gene. Transcript abundance of both ERα and IGF-I decreased linearly with increasing BW within both compartments. ERRα and PR expressions decreased with increasing BW in PAR but not in MFP. Nutrition stimulated ERα and ERRα expression in the PAR but had no effect on IGF-I or PR in either PAR or MFP. Overall, ERα and IGF-I transcript abundance are consistent with the drop in mammary epithelial cell proliferation and PAR accretion observed over development, but do not support a negative effect of nutrition on PAR growth.

Steroid receptors are key transcriptional regulators of mammary growth, development and lactation. Expression of estrogen receptors alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ), progesterone receptor (PR), and estrogen-related receptor alpha-1 (ERRβ) have been evaluated in bovine mammary gland. The ERRα is an orphan receptor that, in other species and tissues, appears to function in the regulation of estrogen-response genes including lactoferrin and medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and in mitochondrial biogenesis. Expression of ERα, ERβ, PR and ERRα was characterized in mammary tissue obtained from multiple stages of bovine mammary gland development using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Expression was evaluated in prepubertal heifers, primigravid cows, lactating non-pregnant cows, lactating pregnant cows and non-lactating pregnant cows (n=4 to 9 animals/stage). In addition, ERα, ERβ, PR and ERRα were mapped to chromosomes 9, 10, 15 and 29 respectively, by linkage and radiation hybrid mapping. Results indicated that expression of ERα, PR and ERRα was largely coordinately regulated and they were present in significant quantity during all physiological stages evaluated. In contrast, ERβ transcripts were present at a very low concentration during all stages. Furthermore, no ERβ protein could be detected in bovine mammary tissue by immunohistochemistry. The ERα and PR proteins were detected during all physiological states, including lactation. Our results demonstrate the presence of ERα, PR and ERRα during all physiological stages, and suggest a functional role for ERRα and a relative lack of a role for ERβ in bovine mammary gland development and lactation.