Proteolytic cleavage confers nitric oxide synthase inducing activity upon prolactin

Abstract

Prolactin (PRL), originally associated with milk secretion, is now known to possess a wide variety of biological actions and diverse sites of production beyond the pituitary. Proteolytic cleavage is a common post- translational modification that can either activate precursor proteins or confer upon the peptide fragment unique biological actions not exerted by the parent molecule. Recent studies have demonstrated that the 16-kDa N-terminal proteolytic cleavage product of PRL (16K-PRL) acts as a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis. Despite previous demonstrations of 16K-PRL production in vivo, biological functions beyond its antiangiogenic actions remain unknown. Here we show that 16K-PRL, but not full-length PRL, acts to promote the expression of the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitric oxide (·NO) production by pulmonary fibroblasts and alveolar type II cells with potency comparable with the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β, interferon γ, and tumor necrosis factor α. The differential effect of 16K- PRL versus PRL occurs through a receptor distinct from known PRL receptors. Additionally, pulmonary fibroblasts express the PRL gene and endogenously produce 16K-PRL, suggesting that this pathway may serve both autocrine and paracrine roles in the regulation of ·NO production. These results reveal that proteolytic cleavage of PRL confers upon this classical hormone potent iNOS inducing activity, suggesting its role in inflammatory/immune processes.