Involvement of cyclic AMP, iodide and metabolites of arachidonic acid in the regulation of cell proliferation of isolated porcine thyroid follicles.

Experiments with primary cultures of isolated porcine thyroid follicles were performed in serum-free well-defined medium to investigate different pathways that may be involved in the regulation of thyroid cell growth. The incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA within 72 h was about 25-fold with fetal calf serum (FCS, 1%), 20-fold with epidermal growth factor (EGF, 1 ng/ml) and 3.5-fold with insulin (10 micrograms/ml) as compared to controls. Bovine TSH significantly reduced the basal and insulin-induced growth rate at concentrations of 10(-6) to 10(-4) U/ml and 10(-4) U/ml, respectively. Forskolin stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation in thyroid cells and significantly reduced FCS-, EGF- or insulin-induced growth. In contrast, a 2- to 7-fold increase in FCS-, insulin- or EGF-induced growth rate was found, when cyclic AMP formation was inhibited by 2',5'-dideoxyadenosine (DDA). Iodide was stimulatory at low concentrations (1 microM) and inhibitory at higher concentrations (40-80 microM) on FCS-induced growth rate. The inhibitory effect of iodide was blocked by propylthiouracil (PTU), indicating that an iodinated compound is responsible for this effect. Indomethacin, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, did not inhibit EGF- and insulin-induced growth up to a concentration of 100 microM. However, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) and BW-755C, which are lipoxygenase inhibitors, strongly inhibited the growth of thyroid cells at micromolar concentrations. These data clearly show that (1) bovine TSH is not a growth factor for isolated thyroid cells in vitro, (2) thyroid cell proliferation, induced by FCS, EGF and insulin is under negative control of cyclic AMP. (3) Iodide controls dose-dependently thyroid cell growth by iodinated metabolites, probably modulating 2 different pathways: (a) at low iodide concentrations, an iodinated compound enhances the growth rate by inhibition of cyclic AMP formation, and (b) at high concentrations, iodide diminishes the growth rate by inhibiting the response to growth factors. (4) Metabolite(s) of lipoxygenase appear to be involved in intracellular signal transduction evoked by growth factors in thyroid cells.