Effects of Prolactin and Glycosylated Prolactin on (Pro)insulin Synthesis and Insulin Release from Cultured Rat Pancreatic Islets

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Abstract
In order to study the possible differential effects of the nonglycosylated and glycosylated forms of prolactin on insulin content and secretion in pancreatic islets, neonatal rat pancreatic islets were exposed for 6 days in vitro to 2 .mu.g/ml of nonglycosylated ovine prolactin (oPRL), or to 2 .mu.g/ml of glycosylated oPRL (G-oPRL). oPRL stimulated a significant increase (p < 0.01) in the total amount of insulin released into the medium over the 6 day culture period; however, G-oPRL had no effect. Islets cultured for 6 days in the presence of oPRL showed no increase in the amount of DNA per islet. However, there was a significant (p < 0.007) increase in the amount of total protein synthesized by the islets exposed to oPRL. These findings suggest that the effect of oPRL on neonatal rat pancreatic islet cells is a nonspecific effect. The nonglycosylated form of PRL may play a role in B-cell function by promoting protein synthesis, which results in augmented insulin synthesis.

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