Perifusion of rat pituitary cells with gonadotropin-releasing hormone, activin, and inhibin reveals distinct effects on gonadotropin gene expression and secretion.

Gonadotropin biosynthesis and secretion are influenced by pulsatile GnRH derived from the hypothalamus as well as by paracrine factors. In the current studies, we compared the effects of inhibin, activin, and GnRH, alone and in combination, on gonadotropin subunit messenger RNA (mRNA) levels and gonadotropin secretion. A pituitary perifusion system was used to allow GnRH to be administered as pulses and to minimize paracrine effects. FSH beta mRNA levels were increased 25-fold by a maximal concentration of activin (3 ng/ml) and suppressed 83% by a maximal concentration of inhibin (30 ng/ml). When activin and inhibin were perifused together, inhibin attenuated the effects of maximal activin stimulation in a concentration-dependent manner, with a 10-fold excess of inhibin required to block the effects of activin entirely. Whole cell receptor assays using 125I-labeled activin confirmed that the inhibin used in the perifusion experiments competed for activin binding sites, although with a lower affinity. Direct competition at the activin receptor may thus account for part of the activin/inhibin antagonism observed at the level of FSH beta mRNA. Neither activin nor inhibin had a significant effect on levels of LH beta or alpha mRNAs. Hourly pulses of 10 nM GnRH elicited a 2- to 5-fold increase in FSH beta mRNA. This increment was maintained in the presence of activin and inhibin, suggesting separate, but dependent, mechanisms of action for GnRH vs. inhibin and activin. In studies of secretion, continuous activin stimulation (3 ng/ml) elicited only a small (approximately 30%) increase in basal FSH secretion. However, the response of FSH to pulses of GnRH was amplified 3-fold in the presence of activin. A similar enhancement of GnRH-induced, but not basal, LH release was also observed. Inhibin, in contrast, elicited no changes in basal or GnRH-stimulated release of FSH or LH. We conclude that activin and inhibin are the primary regulators of FSH beta mRNA levels, whereas GnRH appears to be the major effector for gonadotropin secretion. There is significant functional overlap, however, and the combined actions of activin, inhibin, and GnRH determine the final level of FSH beta mRNA and the pattern of gonadotropin secretion.