Induction of mitochondrial proteins in MA-10 Leydig tumour cells with human choriogonadotropin.

The side-chain cleavage of cholesterol is the rate-limiting enzymic step in steroidogenesis and occurs in the mitochondria of steroid-producing tissues. In these studies, the effect of acute stimulation of MA-10 Leydig-tumour cells on the synthesis of mitochondrial proteins was investigated. Cells were incubated in the presence of stimulating levels of human choriogonadotropin (hCG) and [35S]methionine for 2 h periods. Mitochondria were isolated and their proteins analysed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and fluorography. At least three mitochondrial-specific proteins were found in cells exposed to gonadotropin, and these proteins were also found in cells treated with dibutyryl cyclic AMP (db cyclic AMP). The appearance of these proteins was prevented by the addition of cycloheximide to the cells, as was the production of progesterone, the major steroid produced in MA-10 cells. In addition, mitochondria isolated from cells stimulated with db cyclic AMP produced progesterone at a rate 3-fold greater than mitochondria isolated from control cells during 3 h of incubation. Lastly, mixing experiments demonstrated that sonicated mitochondria isolated from db cyclic AMP-treated cells stimulated progesterone production in control mitochondria 6-fold. These studies show that hCG and db cyclic AMP stimulation of MA-10 cells results in the rapid induction of cycloheximide-sensitive proteins located in the mitochondria which may be instrumental in the acute regulation of steroidogenesis.