Mitogenic Effects Of Insulin-like Growth Factor I Research Articles

Insulin-like growth factor-I signaling is modified during chondrocyte differentiation

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a critical regulator of skeletal growth. While IGF-I has been shown to be a potent chondrocyte mitogen in vitro, its role in chondrocyte differentiation is less well characterized. We chose to study the action of IGF-I on an accepted model of chondrocyte differentiation, the ATDC5 cell line. Insulin concentrations sufficiently high to interact with the IGF-I receptor are routinely used to induce ATDC5 cells to differentiate. Therefore, we first examined the ability of IGF-I to promote chondrocyte differentiation at physiological concentrations. IGF-I could induce differentiation of these cells at concentrations below 10 nM. However, increasing IGF-I concentrations were less potent at inducing differentiation. We hypothesized that mitogenic effects of IGF-I might inhibit its differentiating effects. Indeed, the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-pathway inhibitor PD98059 inhibited ATDC5 cell DNA synthesis while enhancing differentiation. This suggested that the ability of IGF-I to promote both proliferation and differentiation might require that its signaling be modulated through the differentiation process. We therefore compared IGF-I-mediated ERK activation in proliferating and hypertrophic chondrocytes. IGF-I potently induced ERK activation in proliferating cells, but minimal ERK response was seen in hypertrophic cells. In contrast, IGF-I-mediated Akt activation was unchanged by differentiation, indicating intact upstream IGF-I receptor signaling. Similar findings were observed in the RCJ3.1C5.18 chondrogenic cell line and in primary chick chondrocytes. We conclude that IGF-I promotes both proliferation and differentiation of chondrocytes and that the differentiation effects of IGF-I may require uncoupling of signaling to the ERK pathway.

Effects of insulin-like growth factor I on growth, epithelial barrier and iodide transport in polarized pig thyrocyte monolayers.

The effects of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on mitogenesis, epithelial barrier function and transepithelial iodide transport were studied in confluent, polarized monolayers of pig thyrocytes cultured on filter in Transwell bicameral chambers. The growth rate in controls cultured in 1% fetal calf serum was low. Insulin-like growth factor I stimulated dose-dependently the incorporation of [3H]thymidine, maximally at 100 ng/ml, which corresponded to an increase of DNA content by 60% after 6 days. Thyrotropin (1 mU/ml) alone did not stimulate cell multiplication but inhibited partially the stimulatory effect of IGF-I. Insulin-like growth factor I (100 ng/ml) increased within 10 min the transepithelial potential difference, which remained elevated for several days, but did not significantly change the transepithelial resistance. When added together, IGF-I reinforced the effects of TSH on potential difference (increase) and resistance (decrease). A preserved epithelial barrier in IGF-I-treated cultures was confirmed by observing a normal immunolocalization of the tight junction protein ZO-1 and an unchanged ultrastructure of the junctional complex. Insulin-like growth factor I increased the transepithelial flux of 125I- in the basal-to-apical, but not in the opposite, direction. Stimulation of iodide transport by IGF-I was modest after 2 days and pronounced after 6 days. In comparison, TSH-stimulated iodide transport was higher after 2 days but lower after 6 days. Both TSH and IGF-I were strongly synergistic, after 6 days amounting to a 90-fold increase over the control basoapical 125I- transfer. The simultaneous accumulation of 125I- in the cell layer was increased two- to fourfold by IGF-I and/or TSH. In conclusion, IGF-I is able to induce growth in preformed monolayers of pig thyrocytes cultured on permeable filter. During these conditions, the mitogenic effect of IGF-I is partially inhibited by TSH, which has no growth-promoting action on its own. The transepithelial transport of iodide and bulk electrolytes is altered by IGF-I without affecting the epithelial barrier function. Specifically, IGF-I up-regulates the activity of the basolateral iodide pump and increases the iodide permeability of the apical plasma membrane. The action of IGF-I on iodide transport is independent of, although synergistic with, that of TSH. The findings support the notion that IGF-I may be an important regulator of thyroid growth and differentiated functions.

936-83 Chronic Estradiol Treatment of Rabbits with Cardiac Allografts Attenuates Graft Vascular Proliferation Induced by Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6)

Male New Zealand White rabbits fed a 0.5% cholesterol diet (n = 13) received a heterotopic cardiac allograft and cyclosporine ( 10 mg/kg/day) until sacrifice 6 to 7 weeks later, at which time both the native and transplanted hearts and aorta were harvested. Six of the rabbits were treated with estradiol 100 μg/kg/day i.m., beginning 7 days prior to transplantation and continuing until sacrifice; the remaining seven rabbits served as controls and received placebo. The native aorta as well as the aorta from the grafted hearts were isolated and used for in vitro studies involving cytokine and growth factor stimulated cell proliferation. Tritiated thymidine incorporation is expressed as CPM/mg protein and the changes in cell proliferation are expressed as % changes from the control (the unstimulated vessel). IGF-I and IL-6 but not interferon-γ (INF-γ) significantly increased cell proliferation, measured as 3 H-thymidine incorporation. in explants from both native and allograft vessels and significantly more so in the graft (p < 0.05). The mitogenic effect of both IGF-I and IL-6 in the graft aorta, but not in that associated with the native heart, was abrogated by chronic treatment with estradiol (p < 0.02). % Change in Vascular Wall Cell Proliferation IGF-I (20 μg/ml) INF-γ (50 U/ml) IL-6 (50 U/ml) Native - Estradiol 175 ± 32 189 ± 43 162 ± 28 + Estradiol 167 ± 42 143 ± 79 159 ± 36 Allograft - Estradiol 328 ± 66 197 ± 56 366 ± 101 + Estradiol 64 ± 12 116 ± 41 72 ± 14 Mean ± SEM This inhibitory effect of estradiol treatment on the mitogenic effect of IGF-I and IL-6 on the vascular wall of the allograft supports previous studies showing that accelerated coronary transplant arteriosclerosis in this model is inhibited by estrogen. These data speak to the use of hormone replacement therapy in post menopausal women receiving a cardiac transplant.

Involvement of protein kinase-C in the mitogenic effect of insulin-like growth factor-I on rat astrocytes.

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) stimulates the proliferation of many cell types, including astrocytes. Astrocytes are a population of brain cells highly enriched in IGF-I receptors, which unlike neurons, retain the ability to proliferate in the adult brain. Although astrocyte proliferation in response to IGF-I is well documented, the intracellular mechanisms that mediate this phenomenon are poorly defined. Interestingly, activation of protein kinase-C (PKC) by IGF-I has been observed in several cell types. In this report we first characterized the mitogenic effects of IGF-I on highly purified type I rat astrocyte cultures. Next, we determined whether IGF-I activates PKC in our cultures. Finally, since astrocyte proliferation is stimulated by both IGF-I and the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), we decided to test the possible involvement of PKC in the mitogenic activity of IGF-I on astrocytes. IGF-I stimulated the DNA synthesis rate in rat astrocytes. Analysis of the time course revealed that IGF-I (10 nM) induces maximal stimulation of [3H]thymidine incorporation (a 4-fold increase) 16-18 h after exposure. TPA also stimulated mitogenesis in our cultures. The dose-response of [3H]thymidine incorporation induced by IGF-I and TPA indicated that 10 nM was the lowest concentration producing a maximal effect for both agents. Analysis of proteins by Western blot revealed that 10 nM IGF-I translocates PKC(alpha), the predominant PKC isoform in astrocyte cultures, from the cytosol to the membrane fraction within 20 min. A similar activation of PKC was achieved with 100 nM TPA. When astrocytes were exposed to IGF-I (10 nM) and TPA (10 nM) in combination, [3H]thymidine uptake was significantly higher than the uptake induced by either IGF-I (10 nM) or TPA (10 nM) alone. However, the effect of IGF-I plus TPA was not fully additive. In a second experiment, the mitogenic effect of IGF-I was partially abolished in cells depleted of PKC by preincubation with high concentrations of TPA (300 nM). Finally, incubation of astrocytes with the PKC inhibitor H-7 at 20 microM, a concentration that completely blocked the mitogenic action of TPA, only reduced the ability of IGF-I to stimulate DNA synthesis by 50%. In summary, our results demonstrate that IGF-I can rapidly activate PKC in astrocytes, and that PKC activation is involved in the mitogenic effect of IGF-I on these cells. However, we conclude that IGF-I also stimulates astrocyte proliferation through PKC-independent pathways.

Receptor binding and growth-promoting activity of insulin-like growth factor-I in a bovine mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T3).

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) has been known to be mitogenic to a variety of cell types, although a growth-regulatory role for IGF-I on bovine mammary epithelial cells has not been fully investigated. In the present study, we examined the receptor binding of IGF-I and its effect on growth in a bovine mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T3). Specific receptors for IGF-I were detected on cultured bovine mammary epithelial cells. Competitive binding revealed that half-maximal inhibition of 125I-labelled IGF-I binding by IGF-I was approximately 3 micrograms/l. Dissociation rate constant of the IGF-I receptor was 3.10 +/- 0.06 nmol/l (S.E.M.) with a receptor site concentration of 366 +/- 8 fmol/mg protein for the average of three experiments. IGF-I exerted a positive mitogenic effect on MAC-T3 cells according to both direct DNA assay and thymidine incorporation assay. Moreover, the mitogenic effect of IGF-I on MAC-T3 cells was enhanced by the addition of fetal calf serum in the culture media. The present results suggest that the bovine mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T3) provides a useful model system with which to study the biological actions of insulin-like growth factors on the bovine mammary secretory tissue in vitro.

Effect of insulin-like growth factor I on deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in cultured human granulosa cells

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has been proposed to be an autocrine/paracrine factor involved in granulosa cell proliferation and differentiation. The present study focuses on a possible mitogenic effect of IGF-I in human granulosa cells. Insulin-like growth factor I (1 to 10 ng/mL) significantly stimulated 3H-thymidine incorporation in granulosa cells obtained from both natural cycles and from patients stimulated for in vitro fertilization, whereas luteinizing hormone (LH, 10 ng/mL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH, 10 ng/mL) and epidermal growth factor (EGF, 10 ng/mL) had no apparent effect on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis under these conditions. Luteinizing hormone and FSH stimulated progesterone secretion whereas IGF-I and EGF were without effect. Our observations that IGF-I stimulates DNA synthesis in human granulosa cells is in agreement with previous reports, in other species, indicating that IGF-I might be of importance for granulosa cell proliferation.

Studies on Binding and Mitogenic Effect of Insulin and Insulin-Like Growth Factor I in Glomerular Mesangial Cells*

The mesangial cells, as part of their smooth muscle cell function, are actively involved in regulating glomerular hemodynamics. Their overlying endothelium is fenestrated; therefore, these cells are directly exposed to plasma substances, including hormones such as insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). These peptides may contribute to the mesangial sclerosis and cellular hyperplasia that characterize diabetic glomerulopathy. We report herein the characterization of the receptors and the mitogenic effects of IGF-I and insulin on mouse glomerular mesangial cells in culture. The IGF-I receptor was characterized on intact cells. The Kd of the IGF-I receptor was 1.47 X 10(-9) M, and the estimated number of sites was 64,000 receptors/cell. The binding was time, temperature, and pH dependent, and the receptor showed down-regulation after exposure to serum. The expression of the receptor did not change on cells at different densities. The specific binding for insulin was too low to allow characterization of the insulin receptor on intact cells. However, it was possible to identify the insulin receptor in a wheat germ agglutinin-purified preparation of solubilized mesangial cells. This receptor showed the characteristic features of the insulin receptor, including pH dependence of binding and a curvilinear Scatchard plot. The mitogenic effects of insulin and IGF-I on mesangial cells were measured by the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA. IGF-I was more potent than insulin. The half-maximal response to IGF-I stimulation occurred at 1.3 X 10(-10) M, and a similar increase with insulin was observed at concentrations in the range of 10(-7) M, suggesting that this insulin action was mediated through the IGF-I receptor. These data show that the mouse microvascular smooth muscle cells of the glomerulus express a cell surface receptor for IGF-I in vitro and that this peptide is a potent mitogen for these mesangial cells. It may, therefore, play a role in glomerular proliferative lesions. The insulin receptor is present in small numbers and does not mediate mitogenesis in mesangial cells.