The ret-Activating Ligand GDNF Is Differentiative and Not Mitogenic for Normal and Neoplastic Human Chromaffin Cells In Vitro.

Activating mutations of the receptor tyrosine kinase, ret, are associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN 2A). However, the mechanisms leading to tumor development are unclear. Glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) activates wild-type ret via interaction with a second receptor, GFR a-l. We have utilized GDNF to stimulate normal and neoplastic chromaffin cells in order to ask whether ret activation is mitogenic. Cells from three normal adult adrenal medullas, one sporadic pheochromocytoma, and three MEN-2A pheochromocytomas were labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) for 12 d in the presence or absence of GDNF or nerve growth factor (NGF), which is known to stimulate neurite outgrowth, but not proliferation in human chromaffin and pheochromocytoma cell cultures. Responses to GDNF and NGF were comparable, except for two MEN-2A pheochromocytomas that responded minimally to GDNF and robustly to NGF. These tumors responded to GDNF biochemically, as measured by phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kineses, despite their weak morphological responses. Our findings suggest that activation of ret may not be sufficient to produce chromaffin cell hyperplasia or neoplasia directly by stimulating cell proliferation. However the possibility that altered cell-cell or cell-substrate interactions might cause responses to become differ entiative rather than proliferative in vitro has not been ruled out. We also demonstrate, for the first time, that at least some human pheochromocytomas with an MEN-2A ret mutation respond to a normal ret ligand. This responsiveness could be mediated by a remaining normal ret allele or by other mechanisms.