Thyroid and glucocorticoid hormones regulate the expression of multiple Na,K-ATPase genes in cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes.

The Na,K-ATPase alpha isoform (alpha 1, alpha 2, and alpha 3) and beta subunit genes exhibit a complex pattern of expression during heart development. To identify possible molecular signals that regulate the differential expression of these genes, isolated neonatal rat myocardial and non-myocardial cells were cultured in chemically defined medium and the responses of the multiple Na,K-ATPase subunit mRNAs to various hormones were tested. Myocardiocytes in control cultures express primarily alpha 1 and beta mRNAs. Triiodothyronine (T3) induced the expression of alpha 2, alpha 3, and beta mRNAs without influencing alpha 1 mRNA levels. Dexamethasone (DEX) treatment similarly induced alpha 2 mRNA levels, but the abundance of the other subunit transcripts remained unaltered. T3 and DEX together caused increases in alpha 2 and beta mRNA, increments similar to that observed with T3 alone. However, DEX specifically repressed the induction of alpha 3 mRNA by T3. Both hormones stimulated corresponding changes in the sarcolemma concentration of these Na,K-ATPase isozymes. Addition of norepinephrine to the cultures had little appreciable effect on expression of the alpha isoform and beta mRNAs. Although characterized less extensively, control cultures of non-myocardiocytes expressed alpha 1, alpha 3, and beta mRNAs, of which only the beta mRNA was stimulated by T3. These data indicate that thyroid and glucocorticoid hormones differentially regulate the expression of multiple alpha isoform and beta subunit mRNAs of Na,K-ATPase in cardiocytes in vitro and, therefore, may also be important physiological modulators in vivo.