Effect of thyrotropin-releasing hormone on the carbohydrate structure of secreted mouse thyrotropin. Analysis by lectin affinity chromatography.

Thyrotropin (TSH) is a glycoprotein hormone whose secretion from the anterior pituitary is regulated, in part, by the hypothalamic tripeptide thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). We have used serial lectin affinity analysis to explore whether TRH, in addition to promoting TSH secretion, alters the carbohydrate structure of secreted TSH. Hypothyroid mouse hemipituitaries were incubated in medium containing [3H] mannose, [3H]glucosamine, or [3H]fucose either with or without 10(-7) M TRH. TSH was immunoprecipitated, proteolytically digested into glycopeptides, and chromatographed on serial lectin-Sepharose columns. Under basal conditions, 37% of secreted [3H]mannose-labeled TSH glycopeptides failed to bind to concanavalin A (ConA)-Sepharose, 55% bound and eluted with 10 mM alpha-methylglucoside, and 8% bound and eluted with 500 mM alpha-methylmannoside. Approximately 35% of glycopeptides not binding to ConA-Sepharose were bound by pea lectin-Sepharose, suggesting the presence of certain core fucosylated triantennary complex oligosaccharides. TRH caused a 2-fold increase in secretion of [3H]mannose-labeled TSH glycopeptides due almost exclusively to a specific increase in structures that bound to ConA-Sepharose and eluted with 10mM alpha-methylglucoside, corresponding to biantennary complex or unusual hybrid species. There was no change in the distribution of intrapituitary TSH glycopeptides with TRH. Acid hydrolysis of secreted proteins showed little metabolism of the tritiated sugar precursors, except for a 20% conversion of [3H]mannose to [3H]fucose. Moreover, ConA-Sepharose chromatography of secreted [3H]glucosamine- and [3H]fucose-labeled TSH glycopeptides showed similar increases in ConA-Sepharose binding with TRH as noted with [3H]mannose labeling. Subsequent lectin analysis of secreted [3H] mannose-labeled TSH glycopeptides on erythroagglutinating phytohemagglutinin-Sepharose and leukoagglutinating phytohemagglutinin-Sepharose disclosed no significant differences in TRH-treated versus control samples. These data suggest that secreted mouse TSH has greater carbohydrate heterogeneity than has been recognized previously. In addition, TRH in vitro promotes the secretion of specific TSH molecules apparently enriched in biantennary complex or unusual hybrid oligosaccharides.