Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The prolactin/vasoinhibin axis constitutes a novel endocrine axis in which the generation, secretion, and actions of the pituitary hormones prolactin and vasoinhibins are under control of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and of regulators in the target tissue microenvironment. Vasoinhibins are generated in the pituitary gland and in multiple target tissues through proteolytic cleavage of prolactin; it is not known wether they are also produced in the circulat...

Background: Full-length human prolactin (protein data bank identification P01236), the precursor of vasoinhibins, is structurally classified as a class-I helical cytokine with a four-helix bundle core and only a minimal degree of dark regions. Experimental data on the solution structure of vasoinhibins are not available.Methods: A recombinant, human vasoinhibin with a molecular mass of 16.7 kDa, comprising amino acids 29-176 of prolactin, was expressed i...