Effects of cytokines on insulin-like growth factor-binding protein secretion by muscle cells in vitro

Abstract

The insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I and IGF-II) stimulate muscle cell proliferation and/or differentiation (depending upon the culture conditions). They also increase IGF-binding protein (IGFBP) levels in muscle cell conditioned media and in some instances there is a direct correlation between the apparent rate of IGFBP secretion and muscle cell proliferation. We have investigated the effect of other cytokines on muscle cell IGFBP conditioned media levels using rat skeletal (L6), mouse myocytes (BC3H-I) and porcine vascular smooth (pVSM) muscle cells in vitro to determine if this relationship is maintained. IGFBP levels in conditioned media (CM) were measured by an [125I]IGF-I binding capacity assay and by western blot analysis. Immunoblots indicated that BC3H-1 and L6 cells secrete IGFBP-5 (31-32,000 M(r)), L6 cells secrete IGFBP-4, and pVSM cells secrete IGFBP-2 (34,000 M(r)). Both L6 and BC3H-1 cells responded to transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), in a dose-dependent manner, with suppressed conditioned media levels of IGFBP-4 and IGFBP-5 but TGF-beta 1 did not affect IGFBP-2 levels in pVSM cell media. TGF-beta 1 (5 ng/ml) suppressed IGFBP levels (CM [125I]IGF-I binding capacity) in L6 and BC3H-1 cell media by 48% and 61%, respectively. IGFBP-5 levels, in BC3H-1 cell media, were decreased by treatment with either basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or epidermal growth factor (EGF). Neither treatment affected IGFBP-2 levels. In contrast in L6 myoblasts, bFGF increased media levels of IGFBP-4 and IGFBP-5; L6 cells were not responsive to EGF. Insulin increased IGFBP-4 and IGFBP-5 levels in L6 and BC3H-1 cell media. This stimulatory effect was markedly suppressed by either TGF-beta 1 (L6 and BC3H-1 cells) or bFGF (BC3H-1 cells). L6 and BC3H-1 cell CM IGFBP levels were also suppressed 34% and 84% by 5 U/ml thrombin, respectively. The inhibitory activity of thrombin was specific, i.e. reversible by hirudin and was not due to direct IGFBP proteolysis. Since suramin and staurosporine increased media levels of the IGFBP, this suggests that constitutive secretion of TGF-beta 1, bFGF, or EGF might provide a tonic suppressive mechanism for controlling IGFBP secretion. Thus, our results support the conclusion that the secretion of IGFBP-4 and IGFBP-5, but not IGFBP-2, by muscle cells was suppressed by several cytokines. Depressed IGFBP secretion may play a key role in determining muscle cell responsiveness to either the mitogenic or differentiation stimulating activity of the IGFs.