Secretion of anti-Müllerian hormone by immature bovine Sertoli cells in primary culture, studied by a competition-type radioimmunoassay: lack of modulation by either FSH or testosterone

Abstract

Secretion of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) by immature bovine Sertoli cells in primary culture was studied through a competition-type RIA employing a polyclonal antibody and 125I-labelled purified AMH. This RIA is approximately 10 times more sensitive than the solid-phase two-site monoclonal antibody-based RIA described previously. Biosynthesis and secretion of AMH by cultured Sertoli cells require approximately 48 h, are not influenced by FSH or testosterone and steadily decrease over a one-week period of culture. Cyclic AMP response to FSH stimulation is normal in cultured cells. Whether the factors responsible for the extinction of AMH production in vitro are in any way related to those operating during normal maturation, which lead to repression of AMH biosynthesis in adult Sertoli cells, is not known at the present time and deserves further study.