The short-term activation of a rolipram-sensitive, cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase by thyroid-stimulating hormone in thyroid FRTL-5 cells is mediated by a cAMP-dependent phosphorylation.

To elucidate the mechanism causing the transient accumulation of intracellular cAMP in the FRTL-5 thyroid cell line, the short-term effect of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) on phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity was studied. Together with an increase in cAMP levels, TSH produced a significant increase in total PDE activity as early as 3 min, with a maximal stimulation reached after 15 min. This short-term increase in PDE activity was dependent on the TSH concentration (ED50 = 4 x 10(-11) M TSH). Forskolin and dibutyryl cAMP produced an even larger stimulation than that produced by TSH, suggesting that the effect of TSH is mediated by cAMP. To determine the properties of the PDE forms activated by TSH, antibodies specific for the cAMP-PDEs were used to immunoprecipitate the PDEs present in control cells, and cells incubated for 15 min in the presence of 10 nM TSH. Comparison of the activity recovered in the immunoprecipitation pellets demonstrated that TSH produced more than a 2.5-fold increase in the cAMP-PDE form(s) recognized by this antibody. Conversely, the activity remaining in the supernatants was not affected by the TSH treatment. Most of the activity recovered in the immunoprecipitation pellets (90%) was inhibited by 10 microM Rolipram, an inhibitor specific for the high affinity cAMP-PDEs. No TSH stimulation of the Rolipram-insensitive PDE activity could be observed under these conditions. Western blot analyses with two different cAMP-PDE specific antibodies showed that a 15-min stimulation with TSH induced the appearance of a new band with electrophoretic mobility slower than the polypeptide present in unstimulated cells. The appearance of this band did not require ongoing protein synthesis because it occurred in the presence of cycloheximide. Metabolic [32P]orthophosphate labeling of intact FRTL-5 cells indicated that the TSH treatment caused an increased 32P incorporation into a polypeptide that co-purified with the stimulated PDE activity and had an electrophoretic mobility identical to that of the cAMP-PDE. Okadaic acid, a potent inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 and protein phosphatase 2A, elicited a potentiation of the TSH-stimulated PDE activity. The stimulating of a PDE with the same immunological properties and Rolipram sensitivity as the cAMP-PDE stimulated by TSH in the intact cells was reproduced, in a cell-free system, by incubating soluble extracts from FRTL-5 cells with the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. These data provide evidence that TSH produces a rapid activation of a cAMP-PDE in the FRTL-5 cells through a cAMP-dependent phosphorylation.