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In vitro immunoblockade of VIP inhibits the proliferation of pituitary prolactin cells

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Abstract

VIP is a peptide synthesised in the pituitary gland and is involved in the stimulation of prolactin secretion. However, to date it has not been determined whether VIP is able to regulate the proliferation of pituitary prolactin-producing cells, like other factors involved in the regulation of prolactin such as estradiol or dopamine. The aim of the present study was to address whether VIP is involved in regulating the proliferation of pituitary prolactin-secreting cells. Thus, we performed an in vitro study on monolayer cultures of rat pituitary cells, neutralising the possible paracrine effect of VIP by immunoblockade of the peptide and later determining the degree of proliferation of prolactin-secreting cells. The effects of immunoblockade were validated by determining the levels of VIP in the culture media, which were decreased (P<0.01), and modifications in the patterns of the immunohistochemical reaction to prolactin-positive cells. Immunoblockade of VIP decreased the proliferation of pituitary prolactin-positive cells at all antibody concentrations analysed, mainly between 3 and 12 h (P<0.01). Moreover, immunoblockade decreased the sizes of the cellular and nuclear areas, except at 1 h, at which point it only decreased the nuclear area of prolactin-positive cells. The results obtained suggest that—in the same way as it regulates the secretion of the hormone—VIP could be involved in regulating the proliferation of prolactin cells, like estradiol or dopamine.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the FIS Spanish program N° PI0-21803.

The authors would like to thank Dr. Sánchez-Franco (Service of Endocrinology, INIC Carlos III, Madrid, Spain) for his kind supply of rabbit anti-VIP serum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Anatomy and Histology and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Avda. Alfonso X el Sabio, s/n, 37007, Salamanca, Spain

    José Carretero, María Angoso, Manuel Rubio, Enrique J. Blanco, Europa Sierra & Deborah J. Burks

  2. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    Julio J. Herrero & Emilio Pérez

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  1. José Carretero
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  2. María Angoso
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  3. Manuel Rubio
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  4. Enrique J. Blanco
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  5. Europa Sierra
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  6. Julio J. Herrero
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  8. Deborah J. Burks
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Correspondence to José Carretero.

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Carretero, J., Angoso, M., Rubio, M. et al. In vitro immunoblockade of VIP inhibits the proliferation of pituitary prolactin cells. Anat Embryol 211, 11–18 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-005-0058-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-005-0058-9

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