Testosterone and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I interact in controlling IGF-binding protein production in androgen-responsive foreskin fibroblasts.

The growth of the male external genitalia is primarily regulated by androgens. However, human genital fibroblast growth is also stimulated by insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I. In this study, we report that IGF-binding protein (IGFBP) production in human foreskin fibroblasts is regulated by androgens and IGF-I. Human foreskin fibroblasts secrete IGFBP-3, IGFBP-4, and IGFBP-5. IGF-I increased the abundance of both intact IGFBP-3 and -5 in the culture medium. Testosterone increased IGFBP-3, and the combination of IGF-I and testosterone had an additive effect. Following its secretion, IGFBP-5 was degraded, but the effect of IGF-I on IGFBP-5 peptide abundance in conditioned media did not seem to be due to inhibition of proteolysis. Testosterone had no effect on IGFBP-5 degradation. Intact IGFBP-4 was decreased by IGF-I, and the combination resulted in a similar reduction. The mechanism seemed to be decreased synthesis, since IGFBP-4 messenger RNA was also decreased. The increase in IGFBP-5 synthesis was associated with an increase in the abundance of intact IGFBP-5 in the extracellular matrix. The combination of testosterone and IGF-I resulted in a synergistic stimulation of total protein synthesis by the fibroblast cultures, suggesting that a maximum anabolic response requires both hormones. These observations suggest that combined exposure to androgen and IGF-I altered the abundance of some forms of IGFBPs and that the IGFBPs that are regulated may play a role in modulating the effects of IGF-I on the anabolic response.