Tissue distribution and ontogeny of growth hormone receptor messenger ribonucleic acid and ligand binding to hepatic tissue in the midgestation sheep fetus.

While circulating GH concentrations are high in fetal life, skeletal growth is only slightly reduced by GH deficiency in utero. This has been explained by the relatively low binding of GH to fetal hepatic tissue, suggesting a lack of GH receptors (GHR). The GHR also recognizes ovine placental lactogen (oPL), which may have a specific role either as a fetal growth-promoting hormone or in regulating fetal metabolism. We investigated GHR expression and membrane binding of ovine (o) GH and oPL in various ovine fetal tissues and in maternal liver at different gestational stages. Singleton-bearing ewes at 51, 95, and 120 days gestation were killed. Liver, muscle, kidney, and brain samples were taken from the fetuses as well as placentas and livers from the ewes (n = 3/gestational age). GHR mRNA measured by Northern blot analysis was expressed at high levels in maternal liver at all gestational stages. A major band was observed at 4.4 kilobases (kb), and three minor bands were observed at 2.5, 1.7, and 8.1 kb. In fetal and placental tissue, only the 4.4-kb band was detected. This was present as early as day 51 of gestation in liver, kidney, lung, heart, and placenta and increased slightly with advancing gestation. On day 51, the expression of GHR mRNA in muscle was negligible, but by day 95, muscle expressed higher concentrations than fetal liver. Placental samples showed only a slight signal, with no change over the gestational range studied. In situ hybridization revealed the placental mRNA to be primarily associated with the decidua. Hepatic tissue showed specific binding to [125I]oGH and [125I]oPL from 51 days gestation. [125I]oPL showed a higher [51 days, 17.9 +/- 1.9% (mean +/- SEM); 95 days, 11.5 +/- 1.6%; 120 days, 16.3 +/- 0.9%] specific binding to the liver membranes than [125I]oGH (51 days, 2.1 +/- 0.7%; 95 days, 2.6 +/- 0.3%; 120 days, 3.5 +/- 0.4%). We conclude that oGHR are present as early as day 51 of gestation in various tissues, including liver. The message appears later in skeletal muscle than in liver. As the GH receptor binds oPL with higher potency than oGH, the parallel ontogenic changes in [125]oGH and [125]oPL binding in the liver do not support the presence of a PL receptor under independent developmental regulation.