scholarly journals The effects of hormones on milk-fat synthesis in mammary explants from pseudopregnant rabbits

1972 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Strong ◽  
Isabel Forsyth ◽  
Raymond Dils

1. When freshly prepared explants from pseudopregnant-rabbit mammary gland were incubated with sodium [1-14C]acetate plus glucose, they synthesized triglyceride and phospholipid containing long-chain fatty acids. Explants cultured with insulin and corticosterone also synthesized these products. The addition of prolactin to this culture medium increased the rate of fatty acid synthesis up to 40-fold and the explants synthesized predominantly triglyceride enriched with C8:0 and C10:0 fatty acids characteristic of rabbit milk. 2. The maximum rates of fatty acid synthesis obtained by explants from pseudopregnant-rabbit mammary gland after culture with insulin, corticosterone and prolactin were similar to those observed with freshly prepared explants from lactating-rabbit mammary gland. The time in culture required to attain these maximum rates varied between animals, and did not appear to be connected with the time required (6–7 days) to synthesize the maximum proportions of C8:0 and C10:0 acids. 3. As the pattern of short- and medium-chain milk fatty acids is characteristic for many species, the techniques described to determine the time-course for the development of this pattern can be used to investigate hormonal response.

1974 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Storry ◽  
P. E. Brumby ◽  
A. J. Hall ◽  
V. W. Johnson

SummaryThe effects on rumen fermentation and milk-fat secretion of a dietary supplement of protected tallow given to 4 Friesian cows established on a low-roughage ration and with depressed milk fat is reported. The ratios of acetate to propionate in the rumen were unaffected by the supplement and remained typical of those associated with low-roughage diets in that the proportion of propionate was increased. The supplement produced almost complete recoveries in yield and content of milk fat without any increase in intramammary fatty-acid synthesis. The recoveries were due to transfer of about 20% of the total fatty acids of the tallow supplement. These results are discussed in relation to the effects of low-roughage diets on milk-fat secretion and it is concluded that in the ‘low-fat syndrome’ the capacity of the mammary gland to absorb preformed fatty acids is not impaired.


1972 ◽  
Vol 128 (5) ◽  
pp. 1303-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Strong ◽  
Raymond Dils

The pattern of fatty acids synthesized by mammary-gland explants from rabbits during pregnancy and early lactation has been studied. From day 12 to day 18 of pregnancy, long-chain (C14:0–C18:1) fatty acids were the major products. From day 18 to day 21 of pregnancy there was an increase of up to 12-fold in the rate of fatty acid synthesis per unit wet weight of tissue that was almost exclusively caused by the synthesis of octanoic fatty acid and decanoic fatty acid, which are characteristic of rabbit milk. These medium-chain fatty acids were mainly incorporated into triglycerides. From day 22 to day 27 of pregnancy there was little change in the rate of fatty acid synthesis and the proportions of fatty acids synthesized were essentially the same as those synthesized by the lactating gland, i.e. 80–90% octanoic acid plus decanoic acid. About 2–4 days before parturition a second lipogenic stimulus occurred, although the pattern of fatty acids synthesized did not change.


2010 ◽  
Vol 299 (6) ◽  
pp. E918-E927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Rudolph ◽  
Jenifer Monks ◽  
Valerie Burns ◽  
Meridee Phistry ◽  
Russell Marians ◽  
...  

The lactating mammary gland synthesizes large amounts of triglyceride from fatty acids derived from the blood and from de novo lipogenesis. The latter is significantly increased at parturition and decreased when additional dietary fatty acids become available. To begin to understand the molecular regulation of de novo lipogenesis, we tested the hypothesis that the transcription factor sterol regulatory element binding factor (SREBF)-1c is a primary regulator of this system. Expression of Srebf1c mRNA and six of its known target genes increased ≥2.5-fold at parturition. However, Srebf1c-null mice showed only minor deficiencies in lipid synthesis during lactation, possibly due to compensation by Srebf1a expression. To abrogate the function of both isoforms of Srebf1, we bred mice to obtain a mammary epithelial cell-specific deletion of SREBF cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), the SREBF escort protein. These dams showed a significant lactation deficiency, and expression of mRNA for fatty acid synthase ( Fasn), insulin-induced gene 1 ( Insig1), mitochondrial citrate transporter ( Slc25a1), and stearoyl-CoA desaturase 2 ( Scd2) was reduced threefold or more; however, the mRNA levels of acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1α ( Acaca) and ATP citrate lyase ( Acly) were unchanged. Furthermore, a 46% fat diet significantly decreased de novo fatty acid synthesis and reduced the protein levels of ACACA, ACLY, and FASN significantly, with no change in their mRNA levels. These data lead us to conclude that two modes of regulation exist to control fatty acid synthesis in the mammary gland of the lactating mouse: the well-known SREBF1 system and a novel mechanism that acts at the posttranscriptional level in the presence of SCAP deletion and high-fat feeding to alter enzyme protein.


1972 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Y. WANG ◽  
R. C. HALLOWES ◽  
J. BEALING ◽  
C. R. STRONG ◽  
R. DILS

SUMMARY The effect of various hormones on the incorporation of [14C]acetate into the fatty acids of pregnant mouse mammary gland explants in organ culture was studied. Of the hormones insulin (I), ovine prolactin (P), bovine growth hormone (GH) and cortisol (F) tested singly, only insulin stimulated fatty acid synthesis. There was synergism between cortisol or prolactin with insulin. The greatest stimulation in fatty acid synthesis occurred when explants were incubated in a medium containing either I + F + P or I + F + GH. Analysis by radio-gas-liquid chromatography of the fatty acids synthesized by explants after 14C labelling, showed that the pattern of fatty acids formed in the presence of I + F was distinctly different from that produced in the presence of I + F + P or I + F + GH. In the presence of I + F, the pattern of fatty acids resembled that found in mouse adipose tissue, whilst with I + F + P or I + F + GH the pattern resembled that of mouse milk fat. Synthesis of RNA was essential for the stimulation of fatty acid synthesis in explants incubated in medium containing I + F + P or I + F + GH. Results obtained when DNA synthesis was blocked with mitomycin C suggest that mitosis is important for the induction of milk-fatty acid synthesis. Puromycin had no effect for up to 8 h on explants which had been previously cultured in medium containing I + F, I + F + P or I + F + GH. This suggests a slow turnover rate of the enzymes involved in the synthesis of milk fatty acids.


1972 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 929-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel A. Forsyth ◽  
Christopher R. Strong ◽  
Raymond Dils

1. The rate of fatty acid synthesis by mammary explants from rabbits pregnant for 16 days or from rabbits pseudopregnant for 11 days was stimulated up to 15-fold by culturing for 2–4 days with prolactin. This treatment initiated the predominant synthesis of C8:0 and C10:0 fatty acids, which are characteristic of rabbit milk. 2. Inclusion of insulin in the culture medium increased the rate of synthesis of these medium-chain fatty acids. By contrast the inclusion of corticosterone led to the predominant synthesis of long-chain fatty acids. When explants were cultured for 2–4 days with insulin, corticosterone and prolactin, the rate of fatty acid synthesis increased up to 42-fold, but both medium- and long-chain fatty acids were synthesized. 3. These results show that the stimulus to mammary-gland lipogenesis and the initiation of synthesis of medium-chain fatty acids observed between days 16 and 23 of pregnancy in the rabbit can be simulated in vitro by prolactin alone. 4. When mammary explants from rabbits pregnant for 23 days were cultured for 2 days with insulin, corticosterone and prolactin, the rate of fatty acid synthesis increased fivefold, but there was a preferential synthesis of long-chain fatty acids. Culture with prolactin alone had little effect on the rate or pattern of fatty acids synthesized. 5. The results are compared with findings in vivo on the control of lipogenesis in the rabbit mammary gland, and are contrasted with the known effects of hormones in vitro on the mammary gland of the mid-pregnant mouse.


1973 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. HALLOWES ◽  
D. Y. WANG ◽  
D. J. LEWIS ◽  
C. R. STRONG ◽  
R. DILS

SUMMARY Explants of mammary glands and of subcutaneous body fat from sexually mature virgin and from 19-day pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats and of mammary gland from 5-day lactating Sprague-Dawley rats, were maintained in organ culture for up to 96 h. The effects of insulin (I), corticosterone (B), prolactin (P) and growth hormone (G) on the rate of fatty acid synthesis were measured by the incorporation of [14C]acetate. The effect of these hormones on the synthesis of various carbon-chain length fatty acids was measured by radio gas-liquid chromatography. Explants from both tissues had a reduced rate of fatty acid synthesis after 24 h in medium 199, but this rate was increased by the addition of insulin. In explants of subcutaneous fat from virgin rats, the rate was further increased by culture in IBP or IBG, but this increase was not blocked by actinomycin D. In explants from subcutaneous fat of 10-day pregnant rats the rate was not increased by the addition of B, P or G to the insulin-containing medium. In mammary gland explants from virgin rats, IBP stimulated a greater rate of fatty acid synthesis than did insulin alone. In mammary gland explants from 10-day pregnant rats, the rate of fatty acid synthesis was increased by both IBP and IBG. In mammary gland explants from rats on the 5th day of lactation, both IBP and IBG increased the rate of fatty acid synthesis compared with insulin or IB. Actinomycin D blocked the increased fatty acid synthesis produced by prolactin or growth hormone but not that produced by insulin alone. Mammary gland explants from rats on the 5th day of lactation were cultured for the first 4 h after excision in medium 199 that contained sodium [14C]acetate. Sixty-eight per cent of the 14C was incorporated into C8-C12 fatty acids. In explants from subcutaneous fat none of the hormones tested increased 14C incorporation in these fatty acids. In mammary gland explants from virgin or 10-day pregnant rats, insulin, corticosterone and prolactin increased the incorporation in these fatty acids. Growth hormone was less efficient than prolactin in stimulating C8-C12 fatty acid synthesis.


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