Decrease in dipeptidyl peptidase IV activity is linked to the efficacy of differentiating compounds in follicular thyroid carcinoma cell lines.

Metastasized differentiated thyroid carcinoma is treated by surgery followed by radioiodine remnant ablation. The application of differentiating agents is a possibility of increasing the efficacy of radioiodine therapy. We evaluated DPP IV and aminopeptidase N, both linked to malignancy in thyroid carcinoma, and dipeptidyl peptidase II activities in human follicular thyroid carcinoma cell lines upon treatment with retinol, apicidine, and lovastatin as differentiating agents. Decrease of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) activity may play a role in the differentiating action. In the human cancer cell lines FTC 138 and 238, high DPP IV and low aminopeptidase N activities were recorded. Retinol treatment induced increases in thyroid-specific protein expression [thyroglobulin and sodium-iodide symporter (NIS)], increase in iodide uptake, and decrease in thymidine uptake accompanied by decrease in DPP IV activity. Decreases in DPP IV activities were also seen upon apicidine and lovastatin treatment, which also increased differentiation of the transformed thyrocytes. Our results demonstrate a link between decrease in DPP IV activity and increase in iodide uptake upon stimulation with differentiating agents. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.