Cyclic-AMP-dependent protein phosphorylation in the soluble fraction of parotid glands from rats with drug-induced hypothyroidism

Protein phosphorylation in developing and regenerating rat kidney

Renal cytosolic extracts from rats of different ages and mononephrectomized rats were incubated with gamma-[32P]ATP and analysed by high resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis and autoradiography. Extracts from new-born and young rats showed a great number of phosphorylated proteins migrating between the origin and Mr 52,000. Among these proteins, the group co-migrating with phosphorylase b (Mr 97,000) was particularly evident in new-born and days-old rats. In extracts from mature rats, other proteins of lower molecular weight, particularly those migrating between Mr 60,000 and 44,000, became intensely phosphorylated. The number and intensity of phosphorylated proteins from extracts of normal and nephrectomized rats, however, did not vary. Activity of cAMP-dependent protein kinase and [3H]cAMP binding was also modified during neonatal development but not in compensatory renal growth. Since cAMP-PK and protein phosphorylation are known to be regulated in response to hormonal stimulations, these results may provide good indications for the understanding of hormonal involvement in kidney growth.

Influence of thyroid status on Ca2+ mobilization and amylase secretion in rat pancreatic acini

Thyroid hormones influence Ca2+ homeostasis in both skeletal and cardiac muscle. Since secretory cells, like muscle cells, store and use Ca2+ in stimulus-response coupling, we have studied the effects of thyroid status on Ca2+ mobilization and secretion in a model secretory tissue, the pancreatic acinar cell. Hyperthyroidism was induced by rats by daily, subcutaneous injections of triiodothyronine for 8 days and hypothyroidism by adding 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil to the drinking water for 14 days. Pancreatic acini were prepared by collagenase digestion of pancreatic tissue from hyper- and hypo-thyroid animals and from euthyroid controls. Ca2(+)-mobilization was assessed using Quin-2 fluorescence and secretion by assaying amylase release. The data indicate that the amount of Ca2+ mobilized by the muscarinic agonist carbachol or by cholecystokinin octapeptide increases with increasing thyroid hormone concentrations. Only in hypothyroidism was this change in Ca2+ homeostasis reflected by a parallel change in amylase secretion. This implies the existence of some compensatory mechanism which stabilizes secretory rate in the face of stimulus-evoked increases in intracellular Ca2+ concentration.