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S H Ingbar

Publications and source records attributed to S H Ingbar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Thyroid hormone and growth hormone interact to regulate insulin-like growth factor-I messenger ribonucleic acid and circulating levels in the rat.

Thyroid hormones influence growth in part by altering the secretion and effects of GH. GH, in turn, mediates its effects by regulating the synthesis and secretion of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). IGF-I is a pleiotropic growth factor that is synthesized by many tissues and acts on many tissues to regulate both cellular replication and differentiated function. We have studied the direct effects of thyroid hormones and the combined effects of thyroid hormones and GH on the regulation of IGF-I synthesis and secretion in hypophysectomized (hypox) rats in vivo. All rats, except normal littermates and a hypox control group, received 100 micrograms hydrocortisone/100 g BW for 10 days. Circulating IGF-I was measured by specific RIA (normal rats, 1 U/ml), and hepatic IGF-I mRNA was measured by Northern blot hybridization with an antisense cRNA probe. 1) Hypox rats treated with hGH (75 micrograms, ip, twice daily) for 10 days gained 17 g BW vs. 70 g for normal littermates. GH markedly increased hepatic IGF-I mRNA and circulating IGF-I (0.52 +/- 0.14 U/ml 12 h after the last GH injection vs. 0.03 +/- 0.02 for hypox controls). 2) T4 (1 micrograms/100 g BW, ip) for 10 days increased neither weight, hepatic IGF-I mRNA, nor circulating IGF-I. 3) Rats treated with T4 for 10 days followed by a single injection of 1 mg GH, ip, increased hepatic IGF-I mRNA and circulating IGF-I levels comparably as in rats receiving acute GH alone (IGF-I, 12 h, 0.31 +/- 0.09 vs. 0.36 +/- 0.06 U/ml). 4) Hypox rats treated with a single injection of T3 (1.5 micrograms/100 g BW, ip) had slightly increased hepatic IGF-I mRNA, but showed no significant change in circulating IGF-I levels. 5) A single injection of T3 plus GH to hypox rats increased IGF-I mRNA levels above those in rats injected with GH alone and increased serum IGF-I levels to 0.48 +/- 0.12 U/ml compared to 0.36 +/- 0.06 U/ml for GH alone. 6) After 10 days of GH treatment, a single injection of T3 lowered both hepatic IGF-I mRNA and circulating IGF-I (0.52 +/- 0.14 to 0.16 +/- 0.06 U/ml, 6 h after T3). These studies demonstrate that thyroid hormones have relatively little direct effect on IGF-I synthesis but can have major effects on GH-stimulated IGF-I synthesis and secretion. The pattern of these effects depends on the integrity of the pituitary gland, prior exposure of the liver to GH and/or thyroid hormones, and the temporal relationship between GH and thyroid hormone administration.

Animals↗

Antithyroid and goitrogenic effects of millet: role of C-glycosylflavones.

Pearl millet [Pennisetum millet (L.) leeke] is the main source of food energy for the rural poor in many areas of the semiarid tropics. Epidemiological evidence suggests that millet may play a role in the genesis of endemic goiter in these areas, and sparse experimental data in rats support this suspicion. This study was undertaken to determine in vivo in rats and in vitro using porcine thyroid slices and a thyroid peroxidase (TPO) assay the goitrogenic and antithyroid effects of millet diets, extracts of millet, and certain pure compounds contained therein. For use in these studies, whole grain millet was progressively dehulled to yield successively four bran and four flour fractions in which direct analyses revealed progressively lower concentrations of C-glycosylflavones. In vivo feeding of bran fraction 1, that richest in C-glycosylflavones, led to a significant increase in thyroid weight and antithyroid effects. Feeding of bran fraction 2, the next richest in C-glycosylflavones, produced similar, but less marked, changes. In vitro studies of 125I metabolism using porcine thyroid slices indicated that extracts of bran fractions 1 and 2 were most potent, producing changes similar to those produced by methimazole (MMI). At a concentration of 60 mumol/L, glucosylvitexin, the major C-glycosylflavone present in millet, had effects comparable to those of 1 mumol/L MMI. Similarly, in studies of porcine TPO, extracts of bran fraction 1 caused pronounced (85%) inhibition of enzyme activity, and progressively less inhibition was induced by extracts of bran fractions 2, 3, and 4. Overall, the TPO-inhibiting activities of the various millet fractions closely correlated with their C-glycosylflavone concentrations. Three C-glycosylflavones present concentrations. Three C-glycosylflavones present in millet, glucosylvitexin, glycosylorientin, and vitexin, also inhibited TPO activity. Thus, in vivo and in vitro studies revealed that millet diets rich in C-glycosylflavones produce goitrogenic and antithyroid effects similar to those of certain other antithyroid agents and small doses of MMI. We conclude that in areas of iodine deficiency in which millet is a major component of the diet, its ingestion may contribute to the genesis of endemic goiter.

Animals↗

The effect of small increases in dietary iodine on thyroid function in euthyroid subjects.

Dietary iodine intake in the United States is greater than that considered necessary for the maintenance of normal thyroid function. The administration of pharmacologic quantities of iodine (10 to 1,000 mg daily) to euthyroid subjects results in small decreases in the serum T4 and T3 concentrations and a compensatory increase in the basal and TRH-stimulated serum TSH concentrations. Studies were carried out to determine whether a far smaller increase in iodine intake would also affect thyroid function. Normal volunteers received 1,500, 500, or 250 micrograms supplemental iodine daily for 14 days. Following the administration of 1500 micrograms iodine daily, there were small but significant decreases in the serum T4 and T3 concentrations and a small compensatory increase in the serum TSH concentration and the serum TSH response to TRH. In contrast, no changes in pituitary-thyroid function occurred during the administration of 500 or 250 micrograms iodine daily. These findings indicate that a small increase in dietary iodine can induce subtle changes (all values remaining within the normal range) in pituitary-thyroid function, probably by inhibiting thyroid hormone release. The smaller iodine supplements of 500 and 250 micrograms daily, quantities that may easily be achieved under normal conditions, did not, however, affect thyroid function.

Adult↗

Demonstration of the production and physiological role of insulin-like growth factor II in rat thyroid follicular cells in culture.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are potent mitogens for FRTL5 rat thyroid follicular cells. IGFs also synergize the independent mitogenic effects of thyrotropin-stimulating hormone (TSH) and other agents that increase intracellular AMP concentration. We examined whether FRTL5 cells and M12 cells, a TSH-independent mutant cell line derived therefrom, secrete IGF that regulates the growth of rat thyroid follicular cells. Immunoreactive IGF-II, but not IGF-I, was found in media conditioned by FRTL5 cells; media from M12 cells contained four- to fivefold higher concentrations. Medium conditioned by FRTL5 and M12 both stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation in FRTL5 and amplified the mitogenic effects of TSH. M12-conditioned medium was more potent than FRTL5-conditioned medium. Sm-1.2, a monoclonal antibody that recognizes IGF-I and IGF-II but not insulin, inhibited basal DNA synthesis in FRTL5 and M12 cells and the mitogenic effects in FRTL5 of agents that are synergized by IGF, such as TSH, forskolin, Bt2cAMP, and Graves'-IgG. Sm-1.2 did not inhibit the mitogenic response to insulin. Thus, rat insulin-like growth factor II (rIGF-II) is an autocrine growth factor that regulates FRTL5 growth, in part by amplifying the mitogenic response to TSH. Results with M12 cells raise the possibility that endogenous rIGF-II may partially mediate the TSH-independent growth of these cells.

Animals↗

Adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate mediates both the mitogenic effect of thyrotropin and its ability to amplify the response to insulin-like growth factor I in FRTL5 cells.

In previous studies we have demonstrated that bovine TSH (bTSH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) independently stimulate both the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA and replication in quiescent FRTL5 cells. In the case of TSH, evidence was presented that these responses are cAMP mediated. In addition, responses of thymidine incorporation are greatly amplified when particular concentrations of the two agents are added together, but this effect diminishes as the concentration of either bTSH or IGF-I is increased. The present experiments were undertaken to obtain further information concerning the mechanism of the independent mitogenic effects of bTSH and IGF-I and to explore the nature of the biphasic synergistic interaction with respect to thymidine incorporation that occurs when bTSH and IGF-I are added together. Verification that the increases in [3H] thymidine incorporation induced by bTSH and IGF-I, alone and together, are truly reflective of increases in DNA synthesis was obtained in experiments in which labeled nuclei were counted in cultures of cells grown in the presence of one or both mitogenic agents to which [3H]thymidine had been added. In these studies the number of cells with labeled nuclei was increased markedly by each of the two agents, and the response when the two mitogens were added together was far greater than the sum of their individual effects. Over a range of concentrations which included those that elicit a mitogenic response in FRTL5 cells, IGF-I, unlike bTSH, failed to increase cAMP generation when added alone. Moreover, IGF-I did not significantly enhance the cAMP response to varying concentrations of bTSH. A concentration-dependent increase in the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA was induced by culturing cells in the presence of the cAMP analog (Bu)2cAMP (Bt2cAMP), the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethylxanthine, and the stimulator of adenylate cyclase forskolin. When increasing concentrations of these agents were added together with IGF-I, a biphasic pattern of response of DNA synthesis, mimicking that produced by the combination of IGF-I and increasing concentrations of bTSH, was observed. Further evidence that cAMP mediates the mitogenic response to bTSH was the observation that adenosine inhibited the stimulation of both cAMP generation and DNA synthesis that bTSH produced. Although preincubation of quiescent FRTL5 cells for 24 h in the presence of bTSH resulted in only a small increase in DNA synthesis, measured during the last 3 h of a subsequent 24-h incubation carried out in the absence of bTSH, it greatly amplified the response to IGF-I added alone during the second incubation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

The role of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in the regulation of receptors for thyrotropin and insulin-like growth factor I in the FRTL5 rat thyroid follicular cell.

Although regulatory effects on their own receptors are among the major responses to peptide hormones and growth factors, little is known of the mechanism of these effects. For example, a wealth of evidence indicates that cAMP is the mediator of many, if not most, of the actions of TSH on the growth and function of the thyroid cell, but evidently no information has been available concerning the possibility that cAMP may also mediate the effect of TSH to down-regulate its own receptors. Therefore, we examined this question using FRTL5 cells as a model, since we had previously shown that withdrawal of TSH from their culture medium and its subsequent readdition lead to increases and decreases, respectively, in the number of their TSH receptors. Because the growth of FRTL5 cells in response to TSH is modified by insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), we also examined the independent effect of TSH on receptors for IGF-I, the effects of IGF-I alone on both its own receptors and those for TSH, the effects of the two agents when added together, and the role of cAMP in the independent and conjoint effects of TSH and IGF-I on their own and each other's receptors. Growth of FRTL5 cells in the presence of bovine TSH (bTSH) resulted in a dose-dependent down-regulation of receptors for both bTSH and IGF-I. In contrast, IGF-I alone produced only a modest down-regulation of its own receptors and had no effect on the binding of bTSH. IGF-I did, however, enhance the effect of bTSH on the binding of both ligands. All of the foregoing down-regulatory effects of bTSH, acting both alone and together with IGF-I, were closely mimicked when either (Bu)2cAMP or forskolin was substituted for bTSH. Therefore, cAMP appears to mediate, at least in part, the effects of both bTSH alone and bTSH acting in concert with IGF-I to down-regulate receptors for both mitogens.

Animals↗

Evidence that partially desialylated variants of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are the factors in crude hCG that inhibit the response to thyrotropin in human thyroid membranes.

Previous studies have revealed that pure unmodified hCG (hCGp) has little potency to inhibit the binding of bovine TSH (bTSH) to human thyroid membranes and to either stimulate adenylate cyclase or inhibit TSH-stimulated adenylate cyclase therein. On the other hand, preparations of crude hCG (hCGc) as well as enzymatically desialylated hCGp (asialo-hCGp) are relatively potent inhibitors of bTSH binding (TBI activity) and bTSH-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in human thyroid membrane preparations. In the present studies we have sought to identify and characterize the inhibitory moieties in crude hCG that are responsible for these inhibitory activities and to elucidate the properties of their interaction with the TSH receptor in human thyroid membranes. Preparations of hCGc were processed by DEAE-52 chromatography; this separated components of interest, which were not adsorbed, from intact hCGp, which was adsorbed to the column. The former were then subjected to gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, and the earliest eluting fractions, which proved to have the greatest TBI activity, were pooled, rechromatographed, and designated as variant hCG (hCGv). Three different preparations of hCGv were studied. All displayed a lower sialic acid content, by about half, than that in hCGp. Though their potencies varied somewhat, all had significant TBI activity, which was less than that of asialo-hCGp, but more than that of hCGc. Saturation studies revealed that the TBI activities of hCGv and asialo-hCGp were due to a competitive inhibition of bTSH binding at both the high and low affinity bTSH-binding sites, whereas the inhibitory activity of hCGc was exerted primarily at the low affinity binding site. Preparations of hCGv were also capable of inhibiting the adenylate cyclase response to TSH in human thyroid membranes, and Lineweaver-Burk analysis revealed this inhibition to be competitive in nature. As with its TBI activity, the potency of hCGv to inhibit the adenylate cyclase response was intermediate between that of asialo-hCGp and hCGc. Among the three batches of hCGv, their inhibitory effects on bTSH binding and adenylate cyclase activation appeared to vary inversely with with their sialic acid content. Enzymatic desialylation of hCGv increased its potency to that of asialo-hCGp. Several lines of evidence, as follows, indicate that the moieties that comprise hCGv are modified forms of hCGp itself. 1) On a unit weight basis, hCGv was at least as potent as hCGp in its ability to inhibit the binding of [125I]hCG to rat testicular membranes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

Independent and interactive effects of tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate on growth and differentiated functions of FRTL5 cells.

In studies of regulation of the growth and differentiated function of the thyroid follicular cell, we have employed the FRTL5 cell line to evaluate both the effects of agents that activate protein kinase-C (PKC) and their interaction with other agents that influence the growth and/or function of the FRTL5 cell. The PKC activator tetradecanoyl-phorbol acetate (TPA) alone induced a time- and concentration-dependent stimulation of the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into the DNA of quiescent FRTL5 cells, an effect anteceded by an increase in the levels of the mRNAs of the proto-oncogene c-myc and associated with a stimulation of cell replication. TPA also produced a dose-dependent inhibition of the low levels of radioiodine uptake in quiescent FRTL5 cells. These effects of TPA were unaccompanied by any change in the cellular cAMP concentration. TPA also modified a variety of responses to TSH, attenuating the TSH-induced stimulation of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA, cell replication, cAMP generation, and iodine uptake. Inhibition of TSH-stimulated growth and iodine uptake by TPA could not be ascribed solely to a decrease in cAMP generation, since TPA also inhibited the increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation and iodide uptake induced by the cAMP analog (Bu)2cAMP. In contrast, the independent stimulatory effects of TPA and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on [3H]thymidine incorporation and cell replication were at least additive when the two stimulators were added together. We have previously reported that both TSH and (Bu)2cAMP amplify the enhancement of DNA synthesis and cell replication in FRTL5 cells induced by IGF-I, and that the response of DNA synthesis to IGF-I is also enhanced if cells are preincubated with either TSH or (Bu)2cAMP. Both the former amplification of mitogenesis and the latter priming effect were decreased by exposing cells to TPA concomitant with their exposure to TSH or (Bu)2cAMP. The effects of TPA were mimicked by other activators of PKC, but not by a phorbol ester that fails to activate this enzyme. In general, we conclude that in the FRTL5 cell, regulation of cell growth is extremely complex; there are at least three mitogenic pathways that are separate from but interact with one another. The first is the well known cAMP-dependent pathway, which is activated by TSH. The second is activated by IGF-I and is cAMP independent. These two pathways interact to produce a marked amplification of their individual mitogenic effects. The third pathway is that stimulated by TPA and involves activation of PKC.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Effects of rat gamma- and non-gamma-interferons on the expression of Ia antigen, growth, and differentiated functions of FRTL5 cells.

We undertook the present studies with several objectives in mind: 1) to determine whether recombinant rat gamma-interferon (r gamma IFN) would induce expression of the class II major histocompatibility antigen (Ia) in rat thyroid follicular cells (FRTL5) in culture as human gamma IFN does in cultured human thyrocytes; 2) to characterize the properties of this response, if it does indeed occur; 3) to ascertain whether r gamma IFN has any effect on the growth or differentiated function of FRTL5 cells; and 4) to determine how, if at all, effects of r gamma IFN on the growth and function of FRTL5 cells might be related to expression of the Ia antigen. At concentrations between 1 and 30 U/ml, r gamma IFN induced expression of Ia antigen in a concentration-dependent manner. With a supramaximal concentration of r gamma IFN, Ia antigen first appeared between 4 and 16 h and reached a maximum concentration at about 36 h. After removal of r gamma IFN, the Ia antigen concentration remained constant for about 24 h and then declined, becoming undetectable by 72 h. Induction could not be detected in FRTL5 cells cultured with human gamma IFN, rat non-gamma IFN, Concanavalin-A, phytohemagglutinin, or bovine TSH (bTSH). Over the same range of concentrations that induced the Ia antigen, r gamma IFN proved to be a potent inhibitor of the growth of FRTL5 cells induced by a variety of agents. It produced a concentration-dependent inhibition of the stimulation of [3H] thymidine incorporation and cell replication in FRTL5 cells induced by bTSH. This effect was unaccompanied by any inhibition of either the binding of bTSH to FRTL5 cells or the bTSH-induced increase in cellular cAMP concentration induced therein. However, r gamma IFN did inhibit the stimulation of [3H] thymidine incorporation into DNA induced by (Bu)2cAMP. r gamma IFN also inhibited the stimulation of DNA synthesis and cell replication induced by insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) without affecting the specific binding of IGF-I, and decreased the extent of stimulation of [3H]thymidine incorporation induced by the phorbol ester tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA). Thus, r gamma IFN inhibited both the cAMP-dependent pathway of growth activated by TSH, doing so at some post-cAMP locus, and the cAMP-independent pathways of growth regulation that are activated by IGF-I and TPA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Aminoisobutyric Acids↗

Supranormal stimulation of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in FRTL5 cells by serum from patients with untreated acromegaly.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is one of a number of mitogenic factors in the serum of animals and humans. We demonstrated previously that IGF-I is a potent mitogen for FRTL5 cells, a line of rat thyroid follicular cells. In this study, we assessed the relevance of this finding with respect to the levels of IGF-I found in human serum by comparing the effects of normal serum and serum from patients with untreated acromegaly or hypopituitarism on DNA synthesis in quiescent FRTL5 cells. As expected, when added to cells maintained in Coon's modified Ham's F-12 medium containing 0.1% BSA, but devoid of insulin, transferrin, TSH, or calf serum, normal serum produced a dose-dependent stimulation of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA. A similar, but more marked, effect was produced by the addition of serum from patients with untreated acromegaly. In multiple experiments, a standard concentration (0.5%) of acromegaly serum was more stimulatory to DNA synthesis than was normal serum. In a single experiment designed to eliminate interassay variation and define the relationship between the ability of serum to stimulate DNA synthesis and its IGF-I concentration, studies were performed with 0.5% concentrations of serum from 9 normal subjects, 15 patients with untreated acromegaly, and 3 patients with panhypopituitarism. On the average, [3H]thymidine incorporation in the presence of serum from patients with acromegaly was approximately 3 times, and that in the presence of serum from patients with hypopituitarism only one fourth, that in the presence of serum from normal subjects; there was no overlap of individual values in the three groups. For the entire study group, we found a highly significant correlation (r = 0.86) between the serum IGF-I concentration and the ability of that serum to stimulate thymidine incorporation into the DNA of FRTL5 cells. The stimulatory effects of serum from both normal and acromegalic subjects were decreased or abolished by the addition of a monoclonal antibody against IGF-I. In hypophysectomized rats, GH increases the thyroid to body weight ratio and enhances the effect of TSH to promote thyroid growth. Further, an inordinate frequency of nontoxic goiter in patients with acromegaly has been reported. Taken together with these observations, our findings suggest that the effect of IGF-I to promote thyroid cell growth in vitro has a counterpart in the living animal or patient.

Acromegaly↗

A four generation study of familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia: diagnosis in the presence of an acquired excess of thyroxine-binding globulin.

We have studied the largest kindred with familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH) thus far reported, comprising thirty-three blood relations in four generations and three of their spouses. Our objective was to complement previous evidence concerning the precise mode of inheritance of FDH and to detect any other features of the disorder that had not yet been noted. Among the thirty three, there were thirteen patients with FDH, eight males and five females, in all of whom the abnormality appeared to be fully expressed. Within the kindred, no affected female has borne a female child, but transmission from female to male, male to male, and male to female has been observed. Among the offspring of individuals with FDH, the overall observed frequency of FDH in three filial generations was 12/22, or 54.5 per cent, yielding a computed penetrance ratio of 1.09. Four of the patients with FDH had been investigated for hyperthyroidism, and two of them had mistakenly been treated. Of particular interest were two women with FDH who were receiving oral contraceptives and whose serum thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) concentrations were increased. The results of their thyroid function tests differed from those of patients with FDH whose TBG concentrations were normal and mainly suggested the presence of only a high TBG state. The diagnosis of FDH in these two patients was obscured, and probably would not have been made were it not for the present investigation, which led to the electrophoretic demonstration of increased binding of T4 by serum albumin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗

The carbohydrate moiety of bovine thyrotropin is essential for full bioactivity but not for receptor recognition.

TSH is a glycoprotein hormone whose carbohydrate content varies among different species. Although recent studies suggest that variants of TSH deficient in carbohydrate occur naturally, the significance of the carbohydrate moiety of TSH in respect to its thyrotropic function is unclear. The present studies were undertaken, therefore, to examine this question. A highly purified preparation of bovine TSH (bTSH) was deglycosylated by treatment with anhydrous hydrogen fluoride. Amino acid and carbohydrate analyses of the original and deglycosylated preparations indicated that approximately 85% of the carbohydrate originally present had been removed and that the protein moiety was unaltered. As judged from TSH radioreceptor assays, bTSH and deglycosylated bTSH (dg-bTSH) bound to human thyroid membranes with equal affinity, since both caused a half-maximal inhibition of [125I]bTSH binding at approximately equal concentrations. Nonetheless, dg-bTSH at optimal concentration displayed only about one third the activity of intact TSH in stimulating adenylate cyclase activity in human thyroid membranes. dg-bTSH also antagonized the adenylate cyclase-stimulating activity of intact bTSH in this system, but only weakly, since abolition of the bTSH effect required an approximately 40-fold higher concentration of dg-bTSH. In cultures of FRTL5 cells, a cloned line of follicular cells derived from normal rat thyroid, both intact and dg-bTSH enhanced cell growth, as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation and stimulated cAMP release in the medium, but the response elicited by dg-bTSH was much less than that caused by equal concentrations of the intact hormone. In accord with the findings in the in vitro assays, dg-bTSH evoked a much smaller response than bTSH did in the in vivo mouse assay. It is concluded that although not required for receptor recognition, the carbohydrate moiety of bTSH is essential for the full expression of its biological activity.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

Characterization and regulations of the receptor for insulin-like growth factor-I in the FRTL-5 rat thyroid follicular cell line.

In previous studies we have shown that insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has a mitogenic effect in a line of rat thyroid follicular cells, the FRTL-5. In view of this effect, we undertook studies to identify and characterize some physicochemical and binding properties of the receptor for IGF-I in these cells and to determine what role it plays in the mitogenic activity of insulin and insulin-like growth factors in the FRTL-5 cell. Binding of 125I-labeled IGF-I (biosynthetic Thr59-IGF-I) to FRTL-5 was a function of time, temperature, and pH and was completely inhibited by high concentrations of unlabeled IGF-I. Scatchard plots of four saturation studies revealed a single apparent binding site with an average Ka of 4.2 +/- 0.6 X 10(9) M-1 (mean +/- SD) and an average maximum binding capacity of 20 +/- 2 pm/100 micrograms cellular protein. Rat IGF-II (rIGF-II) and insulin were far less potent that IGF-I in inhibiting the binding of [125I] IGF-I, and bovine TSH was without effect. 125I-Labeled IGF-II also bound to FRTL-5 cells. Binding was completely inhibited by unlabeled rIGF-II and, with lesser potency, by IGF-I. Even at high concentrations, insulin failed to inhibit the binding of [125I]IGF-II. Disuccinimidyl suberate cross-linked [125I]IGF-I to a moiety in FRTL-5 that had an apparent mol wt of approximately 135,000, as judged from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions. Cross-linking of [125I]IGF-I was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by unlabeled IGF-I and, with far lower potency, by rIGF-II and insulin. All three peptides stimulated the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into the DNA of FRTL-5 cells, IGF-I being the most potent, followed in decreasing order of potency of rIGF-II and insulin. The mitogenic activities of these polypeptides correlated well with their abilities to inhibit the binding of [125I]IGF-I. These data indicate that the FRTL-5 cell possesses a receptor for IGF-I that resembles in its binding and physicochemical properties the receptor for IGF-I in other tissues (type I IGF receptor) and that mediates the mitogenic response to IGF-I and insulin in these cells. FRTL-5 cells also contain a receptor for IGF-II (type II IGF receptor), but its role vis-à-vis that of the type I IGF receptor in relation to the mitogenic effect of IGF-II in these cells is uncertain.

Animals↗

Interleukin-1 stimulates thyroid cell growth and increases the concentration of the c-myc proto-oncogene mRNA in thyroid follicular cells in culture.

In the course of studies of cell-mediated immunity in Graves' disease, we noted that normal peripheral blood monocytes, when stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide, conditioned their media with a factor that had the physicochemical properties of the lymphokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) and that enhanced DNA synthesis and replication in quiescent FRTL5 cells, a line of nontransformed rat thyroid follicular cells. This finding led to the present studies, in which the effect of IL-1 (recombinant IL-1-p) on DNA synthesis in FRTL5 was explored. In the absence of serum, IL-1 induced a small, but significant, increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA. Calf serum (0.5%) alone also stimulated DNA synthesis slightly, but it greatly enhanced, in a synergistic manner, the stimulatory response to IL-1, decreasing the minimally effective concentration of IL-1 and amplifying the response to higher concentrations. A similar synergism was noted when quiescent FRTL5 were cultured with a combination of IL-1 and a low concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), which itself stimulated DNA synthesis modestly. IL-1 also increased levels of the mRNA of the proto-oncogene c-myc in quiescent FRTL5, as TSH does, an effect thought to reflect commitment of the cell to increased growth. The findings indicate that IL-1 is an independent stimulator of thyroid cell growth, and that its effects are greatly enhanced by serum, probably in large measure by the IGF-I contained therein. They raise the possibility that IL-1 generated locally by intrathyroid macrophages may act directly by a short-loop mechanism to increase goiter formation in autoimmune thyroid disease.

Animals↗

The role of subunit sialic acid in the thyrotropic and gonadotropic activities of human chorionic gonadotropin.

The present studies were undertaken to delineate the role of sialic acid residues in the two subunits of hCG in relation to its hormonal activity. Sialic acid was removed by treatment of the individual subunits or intact hCG with insolubilized neuraminidase. Desialylated variants of hCG were obtained by combining an asialo subunit (as alpha or as beta) with its complementary intact or desialylated subunit. When tested in the hCG receptor assay using a rat testis fraction, none of the hCG variants exhibited any loss of activity compared with that of intact purified hCG. In in vitro bioassays that employed cAMP and testosterone generation in rat Leydig cells as indices of response, intact hCG and as alpha in combination with intact beta (as alpha-beta) were equipotent. In contrast, intact alpha-subunit combined with as beta (alpha-as beta) and desialylated intact hCG (asialo-hCG) showed activity that at the highest concentration of each tested (20 ng/ml) was no more than half of that evoked by intact hCG. In a TSH receptor assay in human thyroid membranes, loss of sialic acid from either one or both hCG subunits resulted in enhancement of binding affinity; the rank order of decreasing potency was asialo-hCG, alpha-as beta, as alpha-beta. However, despite their enhanced binding affinity, and like intact hCG itself, none of the variants elicited a cAMP response in either human thyroid membranes or cultured human thyroid cells. Rather, asialo-hCG and alpha-as beta, but not intact hCG and as alpha-beta, were effective antagonists of the stimulatory response induced by bovine TSH in thyroid cells. These findings indicate that desialylation of hCG enhances its binding affinity for hCG receptors in testis and, much more so, for TSH receptors in human thyroid. Desialylation also changes hCG from a full agonist to a partial agonist in testis and from a nonagonist to an antagonist in human thyroid. In all cases, sialic acid in the beta-subunit of hCG appears to have a predominant role in these effects.

Animals↗

Stabilization, partial purification, and characterization of thyrotropin receptors in solubilized guinea pig fat cell membranes.

Specimens obtained during the course of efforts to purify the TSH receptor in guinea pig fat cell membranes solubilized with Triton X-100 displayed extensive loss of TSH binding activity, analogous to that seen by others during the purification of the TSH receptor in thyroid membranes. Therefore, as a preliminary to efforts to purify the TSH receptor in solubilized fat cell membranes (SFCM), experiments were undertaken to ascertain the factors responsible for this loss of binding activity and to find means for its prevention. Temperature proved to be the most important variable. SFCM stored at -70 C retained their activity with respect to the binding of bovine TSH (bTSH) for months, but binding activity was rapidly lost during storage of SFCM at 4 C, a loss due to a decrease in receptor number rather than binding affinity. Loss of binding activity during storage of SFCM at 4 C was unaffected by the addition of 1 mM cystine and was only slightly and temporarily retarded by a mixture of three protease inhibitors (phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, aprotinin, and leupeptin). These results indicated that loss of TSH receptors during storage at 4 C is not due to reduction of disulfide bonds or to proteolytic degradation. On the other hand, activity of the receptor was largely or entirely preserved during at least a week of storage at 4 C by the formation of a TSH-TSH receptor complex, by the addition of 40-50% glycerol either during solubilization or immediately thereafter, or by lyophilization immediately after solubilization. Receptors preserved by these three measures retained their original affinity for bTSH and their response to the TSH binding inhibitory activity of Graves'-immunoglobulin G. In the light of these results, SFCM were prepared in 40% glycerol and then subjected to TSH-affinity gel chromatography. The resulting materials contained at least 29.3% of the original binding activity, and their specific TSH binding activity was increased 227-fold. Saturation analysis of [125I]bTSH binding to this preparation revealed an association constant (Ka) (2.2 x 10(9) M-1), very similar to that in the original SFCM preparation. Binding of [125I]bTSH was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by Graves'-immunoglobulin G, and in multiple preparations of the latter, TSH binding inhibitory activity measured in the affinity-purified receptor preparation was closely correlated with that measured in SFCM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adipose Tissue↗