Prolactin regulates RANKL expression via signal transducer and activator of transcription 5a signaling in mammary epithelial cells of dairy cows

Abstract Receptor of activated nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) is regulated by prolactin in the mammary gland. However, the intrinsic molecular mechanism is not well understood. Herein, mammary epithelial cells (MECs) of dairy cows were isolated to characterize the molecular mechanism of prolactin in vitro. We demonstrated that prolactin stimulation increased the expression of RANKL in MECs. Moreover, the expression of RANKL induced by prolactin was inhibited by the prolactin receptor or signal transducer and activator of transcription 5A (STAT5a) knockdown. Furthermore, prolactin markedly increased RANKL‐Luciferase reporter activity in MECs. We identified a putative gamma‐interferon activated site (GAS) in the region between residues −883 to −239 bp of the RANKL promoter. Subsequently, we found that the mutated GAS sequence failed to respond to prolactin stimulation. In addition, STAT5a knockdown markedly decreased prolactin‐stimulated RANKL promoter activity. Western blot results revealed that RANKL overexpression markedly decreased the STAT5a phosphorylation level in MECs. These findings indicate that prolactin could regulate RANKL promoter activity via STAT5a, contributing to increased RANKL expression in MECs. RANKL may have a negative regulatory effect on STAT5a activity.