This study looked at how thyroid‑stimulating hormone (TSH) reduces the release of certain IGF‑binding proteins in sheep thyroid cells and whether that effect depends on cAMP or protein kinase C (PKC). They found that raising cAMP levels mimics TSH’s effect on iodine handling but not its ability to suppress those binding proteins, and that activating PKC blocks both TSH actions. The work is a basic cell‑biology investigation of thyroid hormone regulation.

Isolated sheep thyroid follicles release insulin-like growth factors (IGF)-I and -II together with IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs). We previously showed that TSH suppresses the biosynthesis and release of IGFBPs in vitro which may increase the tissue availability of IGFs, allowing a synergy with TSH which potentiates both thyroid growth and function. Many of the actions of TSH on thyroid cell function are dependent upon activation of adenylate cyclase, although increased synthesis of inositol trisphosphate and activation of protein kinase C (PKC) have also been implicated. We have now examined whether probable changes in intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) or PKC are involved in TSH-mediated suppression of IGFBP release. Confluent primary cultures of ovine thyroid cells were maintained in serum-free Ham's modified F-12M medium containing transferrin, somatostatin and glycyl-histidyl-lysine (designated 3H), and further supplemented with sodium iodide (10(-8)-10(-3) mol/l), dibutyryl cAMP (0.25-1 mmol/l), forskolin (5-20 mumol/l) or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA; 10(-11)-10(-6) mol/l), with or without exposure to TSH (200 microU/ml). The uptake and organification of Na [125I] by cells was examined after test incubations of up to 48 h, and IGFBPs in conditioned media were analysed by ligand blot using 125I-labelled IGF-II. The PKC activity in the cytosol and plasma membrane fractions of cells was measured by phosphorylation of histone using [gamma-32P]ATP, and PKC immunoreactivity was visualized by Western immunoblot analysis. While dibutyryl cAMP or forskolin largely reproduced the stimulatory effect of TSH on iodine organification, they did not mimic the inhibitory effect of TSH on the secretion of IGFBPs of 43, 34, 28 and 19 kDa. Incubation with physiological or pharmacological concentrations of iodide (10(-6)-10(-3) mol/l) for up to 48 h significantly decreased TSH action on iodide uptake and organification but did not alter the inhibitory action of TSH on IGFBP release. Incubation of cells with 10(-11)-10(-6) mol TPA/l for 24 h inhibited the subsequent ability of TSH both to potentiate iodine organification and to suppress IGFBP release. In 3H medium, PKC activity was predominantly recovered from the membrane fraction but, following incubation for 48 h with TSH, the enzyme was no longer translocated to the membrane and was recovered predominantly from the cytosol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)