Effect of prolactin on 86Rb+ uptake, potassium content and [G‐3H]ouabain binding of lactating rabbit mammary tissue.

1. Ouabain‐sensitive 86Rb+ uptake in slices of lactating rabbit mammary gland significantly increased after 20 min or 1 hr of incubation with ovine prolactin (NIH‐P‐S12; 1 microgram/ml.). 2. Total K+ content of the tissue significantly increased at 20 min of incubation with prolactin. 3. Neither vasopressin nor oxytocin, at concentrations of 2,20 or 40 mui.u./ml., had a significant effect on ouabain‐sensitive 86Rb+ uptake or total K+ of the tissue after 30 min or 1 hr of incubation. 4. Tissue slices incubated in cycloheximide at 10 micrograms/ml. for up to 260 min showed a reduction in ouabain‐sensitive 86Rb+ uptake and total K+ content, with half‐lives of 115 and 63 min, respectively. 5. No consistent in vitro effect of prolactin on (Na+ + K+)‐activated ATPase activity in homogenates, crude microsomal fractions or NaI‐activated membrane fractions from lactating rabbit mammary gland was found. 6. After 3 hr of incubation of tissue slices in the presence or absence of prolactin (5 micrograms/ml.), no significant differences in the number of [G‐3H]ouabain molecules bound per cell (5.2 X 10(4) and 6.2 X 10(4), respectively) or in the dissociation constant (KD) for ouabain binding (5.4 X 10(‐7) M and 5.9 X 10(‐7) M, respectively) were observed. 7. Incubation of the tissue with cycloheximide (10 micrograms/ml.) for 1‐6 hr caused an exponential decrease in [G‐3H]ouabain binding with a half‐life of 3 hr. 8. It is concluded that prolactin stimulates the activity of the (Na+ + K+)‐activated ATPase in slices of lactating rabbit mammary gland within one hour but over this period does not affect the number of ouabain‐binding sites, which are apparently turned over with a half‐life of 1‐3 hr.