Partial purification and characterization of putative paracrine/autocrine bovine mammary epithelium growth factors

Involvement of growth factors in the regulation of pubertal mammary growth in cattle

Pubertal mammary growth in heifers is dependent on interactions of many hormones and growth factors of which some are stimulatory while others are inhibitory. Although estrogen and growth hormone (GH) are of primary importance, more recent studies have suggested a role for both systemic and mammary tissue-specific growth factors. Growth factors may act as mediators of estrogen and GH or through specific effects of their own. These growth factors include insulin (INS), IGFs (IGF-I and IGF-II), epidermal growth factor (EGF), FGFs (FGF-1 and FGF-2), TGFs (TGF-alpha and TGF-beta's, amphiregulin (AR), platelets derived growth factor (PDGF), and mammary derived growth factor-1 (MDGF-1). Using mammary epithelial cells derived from prepubertal heifers and cultured in three-dimensional collagen gels as an in vitro model, we have investigated the mitogenic effects of a number of different growth factors (IGF-I, des(1-3) IGF-I, IGF-II, INS, EGF, TGF-alpha, AR, FGF-1, FGF-2, and TGF-beta 1). As expected, IGF-I, des(1-3)IGF-I, IGF-II and INS all stimulated proliferation of mammary cells with des(1-3)IGF-I being the most potent and INS the least potent. The mitogenic effect of IGF-I could be inhibited by both IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 showing that these binding proteins modulate the bioactivity of IGF-I in the mammary gland at the cellular level. Regulation of IGF availability by IGFBPs in the extracellular environment therefore is critical for IGF action in the mammary gland. Proliferation of mammary epithelial cells was also stimulated by growth factors of the EGF family, i.e. EGF, TGF-alpha and AR, however, not as much as growth factors from the IGF family. Members of the fibroblast growth factor family showed various mitogenic activities. FGF-1 stimulated DNA synthesis while FGF-2 in concentrations above 10 ng/ml inhibited DNA synthesis. TGF-beta 1 at very low concentrations stimulated proliferation slightly whereas higher concentrations strongly inhibited proliferation of mammary epithelial cells and inhibited mitogenesis induced by growth factors of both the EGF- and IGF family. This shows that TGF-beta 1 is a very potent regulator of pubertal mammary growth.

Structural characterization of the fibroblast growth factor-binding protein purified from bovine prepartum mammary gland secretion

A novel heparin-binding protein was purified to homogeneity from bovine prepartum mammary gland secretion using heparin-Sepharose chromatography and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography successively. Structural information obtained by N-terminal amino acid sequencing of a series of proteolytically generated peptides permitted the cloning of the corresponding cDNA. The isolated cDNA was 1170 base pairs long and consisted of an 83-base pair 5'-untranslated region followed by a 702-base pair coding region and a 385-base pair 3'-untranslated region. The open reading frame resulted in a protein comprising 234- amino acid residues, including a signal sequence. Instead of Lys(24) as the predicted N terminus, Edman degradation of the native protein revealed N-terminal processing at two sites as follows: a primary site between Arg(31)-Gly(32) and a secondary site between Arg(51)-Ser(52). The amino acid sequence showed a significant similarity with that of human (60%) and mouse (53%) fibroblast growth factor-binding protein (FGF-BP). Accordingly, ligand blotting experiments revealed that bovine FGF-BP bound FGF-2. The theoretical mass of the protein predicted from the cDNA sequence is 22.5 kDa. However, the molecular mass of the purified protein was estimated to 28.6 kDa by mass spectrometry and 36 kDa by electrophoresis. The apparent molecular weight differences are most likely due to post-transcriptional modifications, shown to involve N- and O-glycosylation of Asn(155) and Ser(172), respectively. All 10 cysteine residues in the protein participated in disulfide bonds, and the pattern was identified as Cys(71)-Cys(88), Cys(97)-Cys(130), Cys(106)-Cys(142), Cys(198)-Cys(234), and Cys(214)-Cys(222). As the 10 cysteines of the three known FGF-BPs are positionally conserved, the disulfide bond pattern of bovine FGF-BP may be regarded as representative for the FGF-BP family.

Nutritional and somatotropin regulation of the mitogenic response of mammary cells to mammary tissue extracts

Our objective was to investigate the mitogenic response of primary mammary epithelial cells to extracts of mammary parenchyma from 24 prepubertal Friesian heifers treated with placebo or growth hormone at either a low or a high feeding level. The mitogenic responses to mammary extracts were tested by using primary mammary epithelial organoids obtained from prepubertal heifers cultured for 4 to 5 d in collagen gels in serum-free medium supplemented to 5% concentration of the mammary extracts. Cell proliferation was determined using [methyl-3H]thymidine incorporation as a measure of DNA synthesis. High feeding level reduced DNA synthesis in response to mammary extracts. At low feeding level, growth hormone treatment decreased DNA synthesis in response to mammary extracts whereas, at high feeding level, growth hormone increased DNA synthesis in response to mammary extracts. These results suggest that locally produced growth factors are involved in the regulation of mammary development when mammary growth is modulated by feeding level and growth hormone treatment.

A model to describe growth patterns of the mammary gland during pregnancy and lactation

Extensive proliferation and death of cells in the mammary gland occur during pregnancy and lactation. In this study, a mechanistic model was developed that yielded a single equation to describe the pattern of mammary growth of mammals throughout pregnancy and lactation. The model contains a single pool, which is the cell population of the mammary gland; one influx, representing cell proliferation; and one efflux, representing cell death. The parameters of the equation lend themselves to direct physiological interpretation. The model fitted data on mammary gland DNA adequately and can be related to current knowledge on factors and inhibitors of mammary gland growth. A unique definition of the parameters of the model can be difficult because of the high degree of variation among animals, an improper number of observations, or timing, as indicated by analyses of simulated data. The model can also be applied to the study of the entire lactation curve. The widely applied gamma equation and the equation that was developed in this study were compared using weekly production data from dairy cows. The new model performed well, particularly when a sharp peak in milk production occurred. The model has the advantage of providing, for the first time, a simple biological description of the lactation curve that can be used to discriminate changes in lactational performance that are associated with experimental treatments.

Identification of fibroblast growth factors in bovine cheese whey

Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors (FGF) were identified in bovine cheese whey after partial purification using a two step procedure. Cation-exchange chromatography produced a mitogen-rich extract which was loaded on to a heparin-sepharose column and eluted stepwise with 0.8, 1.2 and 2.0 M-NH4HCO3. Mitogenic activity was found in all three fractions by cell growth assays using Balb/c-3T3 fibroblasts. Immunoblotting identified acidic FGF in the 1.2 M-eluate and basic FGF in the 2.0 M-eluate, but neither acidic nor basic FGF was detected in the 0.8 M-fraction. Quantitative radioreceptor assays indicated 5.8 ng of acidic FGF-like activity and 19.8 ng of basic FGF-like activity per 1 whey in the appropriate eluates. This study represents the first direct demonstration of FGF in milk.

Extraction from cheese whey by cation-exchange chromatography of factors that stimulate the growth of mammalian cells

Bovine cheese whey was investigated as a source of growth-stimulating factors that might replace or supplement fetal bovine serum in cell culture. Although some cell growth activity was demonstrated in whey or whey ultrafiltrates, enrichment on the basis of molecular size was not useful because the most abundant whey proteins, beta-lactoglobulin and alpha-lactalbumin, have molecular masses that are similar to most known growth factors. Instead, cation-exchange chromatography was selected as an enrichment process because, in contrast to the major whey proteins, growth factors generally have basic isoelectric points. Adsorption to and elution from Sepharose Fast Flow-S resin yielded an extract containing only 1 to 2% of whey protein but substantial growth-promoting activities on Balb/c 3T3 cells, L6 myoblasts, and human skin fibroblasts. The growth activity could be separated from lactoferrin, one of the prominent basic proteins present, through a stepwise elution from the resin. The resultant fraction, which contained lactoperoxidase as the most abundant protein stimulated the growth of the three cell lines at protein concentrations that were 2- to 20-fold lower than observed with fetal bovine serum. Immunoglobulin G could be removed by affinity chromatography, or lactoperoxidase could be inactivated by heat, without significant losses to the growth-promoting capacity of the fraction. These results suggest that enrichment of growth factors by cation-exchange chromatography offers a practical method for the large-scale isolation of an extract from cheese whey that stimulates cell growth.