Amiloride differentially modulates ANP binding in human thyroid cells and bovine endothelial cells

Atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) binds to thyrotropin-regulated receptors in FRTL-5 cells and increases thyroglobulin mRNA

Thyrotropin (TSH) regulation of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) receptors was studied in the rat thyroid follicular cell line, FRTL-5. Exposure of FRTL-5 cells to 1 mU/ml TSH for 7 days resulted in a tenfold increase in ANF receptors (Bmax = 188 fmol/mg protein) compared with control (Bmax = 18 fmol/mg protein), without affecting binding affinity. An identical treatment of porcine thyrocytes with TSH resulted in a 50% decrease in ANF binding sites. Displacement binding studies indicated that > 80% of the ANF receptors in FRTL-5 cells belong to the ANF-R1 (guanylate cyclase-coupled) receptor subtype. By contrast, > 98% of the ANF receptors in porcine thyrocytes were of the ANF-R2, or clearance, receptor subtype. Intracellular cGMP content was increased thirty-sixfold in FRTL-5 cells by 1 microM ANF, but only 2.5-fold in porcine thyrocytes. cAMP levels were unaffected by ANF in either cell type. Northern blot analysis of poly A mRNA extracted from FRTL-5 cells incubated 2 days in the presence of 100 nM ANF indicated a twofold increase in thyroglobulin mRNA content compared with control. These findings suggest that the ANF-R1 receptor, preferentially expressed in FRTL-5 cells and regulated by TSH, might play a role in regulating thyroid hormone production.

Secretion of immunoreactive ANF from FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells: regulation by calcium ionophore A23187

Atrial natriuretic factor-like immunoreactivity (ir-ANF) was characterized in a continuous line of rat thyroid follicular cells (FRTL-5) and the influence of the calcium ionophore A23187 on ir-ANF secretion was examined. Ir-ANF was identified by immunohistochemical staining as primarily reticular and juxtanuclear in short-term cultures, and more peripheral and granular in longer-term cultures, suggesting a process of ir-ANF packaging into secretory granules. The accumulation of ir-ANF granules was dependent upon the presence of thyrotropin (TSH) in the medium. Secreted ir-ANF was characterized using reversed-phase, high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and radioimmunoassay as a single peak eluting one fraction earlier than 125I-labeled rat ANF (99-126) (i.e., circulating atrial ANF) included as an internal standard. A23187 treatment of cells exhibiting primarily reticular ir-ANF caused a change to a pattern of more distinct, peripherally localized granules. This change occurred within 1 h after A23187 treatment and was dependent on the presence of Ca2+ in the medium. In cultures containing primarily ir-ANF granules, A23187 (0.5 micrograms/ml) induced a peripheral translocation of the granules at 30 min and a complete degranulation by 7 h. Enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (EIA) confirmed a dose-dependent effect of A23187 on ir-ANF release into the medium. These results suggest that some of the effects of Ca2+ in the thyroid could be ascribed to its mobilization and release of ir-ANF, which in turn may have autocrine effects on thyroid follicular cells.