scholarly journals Measurement of the dynamics of stimulation and inhibition of steroidogenesis in isolated rat adrenal cells by using column perfusion

1974 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Lowry ◽  
Colin McMartin

Isolated adrenal cells were perfused in a small column by using Bio-Gel polyacrylamide beads as an inert supporting matrix, and the time-course of the response to various stimuli was observed by measuring fluorogenic 11-hydroxycorticosteroids in the effluent. A small but significant response was observed 1 min after stimulation with physiological concentrations of ACTH (adrenocorticotrophin), but the response did not start to build up rapidly for 3–4min and eventually reached a plateau after 9–10min. A similar pattern of events was observed for the decay of the steroid output on removal of ACTH. ACTH analogues, including one with a long duration of action in vivo, were found to produce responses with similar kinetics. However, cyclic AMP caused a more rapid increase in steroidogenesis and its effects were more short-lived after withdrawal. If, as present evidence suggests, cyclic AMP is produced rapidly after ACTH stimulation the delayed build-up of the steroidogenic response to ACTH would indicate that cyclic AMP may not be the intracellular mediator. When inhibitors were applied during ACTH stimulation, aminoglutethimide, which blocks mitochondrial conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone (3β-hydroxypregn-5-en-20-one), caused a rapid fall in steroid output (1 min), whereas cycloheximide took longer to achieve its full effect. Nevertheless, the response had fallen by 50% in 2 min, indicating a much shorter half-life than that previously reported for the labile protein implicated in steroidogenesis. In addition the rapid response to cyclic AMP makes it unlikely that steroid production is induced as a result of initiation of protein synthesis. This suggests that the labile protein plays an obligatory but permissive role in the development of the response. Column perfusion has proved to be a simple technique which can readily yield accurate data on responses of cells to stimulants and inhibitors.

1974 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 691-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wieland B. Huttner ◽  
Wilhelm Krone ◽  
Hans J. Seitz ◽  
Wolfgang Tarnowski

Dibutyryl cyclic AMP stimulated the activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in perfused livers of rats, fed on a low-protein diet, linearly over a 6h period. The enzyme activity was also significantly elevated by dexamethasone, the effect being considerably lower than that of the cyclic nucleotide. Since the time-course of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity in response to dibutyryl cyclic AMP resembled that observed after dibutyryl cyclic AMP injection into intact animals, it is suggested that induction of the enzyme in vivo is due to a direct action of the cyclic nucleotide on the liver. Combined administration of dibutyryl cyclic AMP and glucocorticoids did not lead to an additive increase of liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity, either in vivo or in the perfused organ.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Itabe ◽  
Takashi Obama ◽  
Rina Kato

Accumulating evidence indicates that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL) is a useful marker for cardiovascular disease. The uptake of OxLDL by scavenger receptors leads to the accumulation of cholesterol within the foam cells of atherosclerotic lesions. OxLDL has many stimulatory effects on vascular cells, and the presence of OxLDL in circulating blood has been established. According to the classical hypothesis, OxLDL accumulates in the atherosclerotic lesions over a long duration, leading to advanced lesions. However, recent studies on time-course changes of OxLDLin vivoraised a possibility that OxLDL can be transferred between the lesions and the circulation. In this paper, thein vivodynamics of OxLDL are discussed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. 303-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Pavelka ◽  
J Hermanská ◽  
M Baudysová ◽  
J Houstĕk

Iodothyronine 5′-deiodinase (5′D) of mouse brown adipocytes differentiated in cell culture was characterized in detail with respect to the adrenergic control of its biosynthesis. The stimulation of 5′D required mRNA and protein synthesis and was dependent on the stage of differentiation of the cells. The maximum induction was observed around confluence (7-day-old cells), in pre- and post-confluent cells the 5′D activity was significantly less induced. The transient responsiveness of brown fat-cells to the stimulatory effect of adrenergic agents was reflected also in the time course of the induction of 5′D by different concentrations of agonists. The maximum response occurred regularly after an 8 h incubation and implicated a rather fast turnover of the induced enzyme. On the basis of the inhibitory effects of cycloheximide and actinomycin D, the half-life of the induced 5′D and its mRNA were estimated to be 1.5 and 3.3 h respectively. The noradrenaline-induced 5′D activity was shown to be that of the type II enzyme, insensitive to propylthiouracil (PTU). The estimated values of its apparent Km for thyroxine, Km for the co-substrate dithiothreitol, and Vmax. in the presence of 1 mM PTU were 2 nM, 2.6 mM, and 0.1 pmol of I-/h per mg of protein respectively. The 5′D activity was effectively induced by forskolin and dibutyryl cyclic AMP, as well as by isoprenaline, noradrenaline and CGP-12177, but not by phenylephrine, cirazoline or oxymetazoline. This indicates that, contrary to previous observations in vivo, stimulation of 5′D in cultured brown fat-cells involves elevated cyclic AMP levels and is mediated predominantly via beta-receptors, particularly via the so-called beta 3-adrenoceptors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 320-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juilee Rege ◽  
Aya T Nanba ◽  
Richard J Auchus ◽  
Jianwei Ren ◽  
Hwei-Ming Peng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) is the most abundant steroid in human circulation, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is considered the major regulator of its synthesis. Pregnenolone sulfate (PregS) and 5-androstenediol-3-sulfate (AdiolS) have recently emerged as biomarkers of adrenal disorders. Objective To define the relative human adrenal production of Δ5-steroid sulfates under basal and cosyntropin-stimulated conditions. Methods Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to quantify three unconjugated and four sulfated Δ5-steroids in (1) paired adrenal vein (AV) and mixed venous serum samples (21 patients) and (2) cultured human adrenal cells both before and after cosyntropin stimulation, (3) microdissected zona fasciculata (ZF) and zona reticularis (ZR) from five human adrenal glands, and (4) a reconstituted in vitro human 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase/(P450 17A1) system. Results Of the steroid sulfates, PregS had the greatest increase after cosyntropin stimulation in the AV (32-fold), whereas DHEAS responded modestly (1.8-fold). PregS attained concentrations comparable to those of DHEAS in the AV after cosyntropin stimulation (AV DHEAS/PregS, 24 and 1.3 before and after cosyntropin, respectively). In cultured adrenal cells, PregS demonstrated the sharpest response to cosyntropin, whereas DHEAS responded only modestly (21-fold vs 1.8-fold higher compared with unstimulated cells at 3 hours, respectively). Steroid analyses in isolated ZF and ZR showed similar amounts of PregS and 17α-hydroxypregnenolone in both zones, whereas DHEAS and AdiolS were higher in ZR (P < 0.05). Conclusion Our studies demonstrated that unlike DHEAS, PregS displayed a prominent acute response to cosyntropin. PregS could be used to interrogate the acute adrenal response to ACTH stimulation and as a biomarker in various adrenal disorders.


1977 ◽  
Vol 165 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard J. Mulder ◽  
Egbert Scholtens

Microsomal UDP-glucuronyltransferase and cytosolic sulphotransferase share many substrates, such as phenols and hydroxamic acids. In a search for a selective inhibitor of sulphation, several phenolic compounds were tested. 2,6-Dichloro-4-nitrophenol is introduced as a selective inhibitor of sulphation in vivo, having no effect on UDP-glucuronyltransferase activity. As substrate for both conjugating enzymes the phenolic drug harmol (7-hydroxy-1-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole) was used. In the rat in vivo 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol caused almost complete inhibition of harmol sulphation after a single intraperitoneal injection (26μmol/kg) for 48h; the percentage of harmol sulphated decreased from 75% in controls to 5% in the treated rats. The percentage of harmol glucuronidated increased from 25 to 95%. Pentachlorophenol was equally effective but also highly toxic. Salicylamide had only a very-short-lasting inhibitory effect on sulphation. In vitro, 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol inhibited sulphation of harmol by a rat liver postmitochondrial supernatant completely at 1μm, whereas even at 100μm it had no effect on glucuronidation of harmol. It is concluded that 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol is a selective inhibitor of sulphation and, further, that its long duration of action makes it suitable for studies on the regulatory role of sulphation in some biological processes.


1976 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. KEYMOLEN ◽  
P. DOR ◽  
A. BORKOWSKI

SUMMARY The output of oestrogens, testosterone and their precursors was compared with that of glucocorticosteroids under standardized conditions, in a suspension of isolated human adrenal cells. Cortisol, corticosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulphate all increased in the same proportions after ACTH stimulation. The response to the logarithm of ACTH concentrations had a sigmoid shape but was fairly linear between 5 and 100 to 1000 μu./ml. The output of dehydroepiandrosterone plus that of its sulphate was of the same order of magnitude as the production of cortisol; the output of free dehydroepiandrosterone averaged half that of the sulphate indicating that the adrenal cortex is capable, under certain conditions, of producing large amounts of the free steroid. The output of androstenedione was very low, on average 35 times lower than that of cortisol, suggesting by extrapolation that the adrenal secretion may not be the main source of androstenedione in vivo or that ACTH is not the unique stimulus to adrenal androstenedione secretion. The output of testosterone was small to negligible and that of oestrogens was practically absent. In three additional experiments the influence of prolactin, prostaglandins, FSH and HCG was explored: no selective stimulation of androgen or oestrogen output was observed except in one experiment in which HCG stimulated adrenal testosterone production.


1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Schachat ◽  
FJ Seidler ◽  
TA Slotkin

Ventricular myosin heavy chain (HC) expression undergoes a rapid change from the beta to the alpha isoform shortly after birth. Thyroid hormone is required for this transition to occur, but the time course of developmental changes in circulating thyroid hormone levels suggests that it cannot be the trigger for this event. In this study, the possibility was examined that cyclic AMP (cAMP), either acting separately or as a mediator of the permissive actions of thyroid hormone, triggers the developmental transition in ventricular myosin HC expression. One-day-old euthyroid or propylthiouracil-hypothyroid rat pups were treated with a membrane-permeable cAMP analogue, 8-bromo-cAMP (8-Br-cAMP) or triiodothyronine (T3). Two and four hours after acute treatment, the relative synthetic rates of alpha and beta myosin HC were measured using an in vivo pulse labelling technique. Myosin HC isoforms were separated electrophoretically and then quantitated by densitometry. Acute treatment in vivo with 8-Br-cAMP did not alter the relative rate of alpha myosin HC synthesis in euthyroid animals at either 2 or 4 h. Hypothyroidism significantly reduced the relative rate of alpha HC synthesis and obturated the transition from beta to alpha HC. The effect on synthesis was rapidly reversed by acute treatment with T3, but not with 8-Br-cAMP. Thus, an increase in cAMP does not appear to trigger the developmental change in myosin isoform expression, nor does it appear to mediate the stimulatory effect of thyroid hormone on alpha myosin HC synthesis. Instead, thyroid hormone is likely to be acting directly on the alpha HC gene by binding to the thyroid response element. The identity of stimuli that mediate the increased responsiveness to thyroid hormone during development remains to be determined, but it is not due to an increase in the levels of cAMP in perinatal cardiocytes in vivo.


2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (20) ◽  
pp. 4398-4401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Banavara L. Mylari ◽  
Peter J. Oates ◽  
William J. Zembrowski ◽  
David A. Beebe ◽  
Edward L. Conn ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Alan Young ◽  
David Nicholls ◽  
Stephen Connolly ◽  
Garry Pairaudeau ◽  
Roger V. Bonnert ◽  
...  

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