Effects of thyrotropin on the thyroid cell membrane: hyperpolarization induced by hormone-receptor interaction

Cultured thyroid cells accumulate the lipophilic cation triphenylmethylphosphonium, indicating that there is an electrical potential (interior negative) across the plasma membrane. Thyrotropin stimulates the uptake of the lipophilic cation 3-fold, and the proton conductor carbonylcyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone causes efflux of triphenylmethylphosphonium accumulated in the presence or absence of thyrotropin. The stimulatory effect of thyrotropin on triphenylmethylphosphonium accumulation is not mimicked by human chorionic gonadotropin, a glycoprotein hormone with a similar structure whose target organ is not the thyroid, and the effect is abolished if the thyrotropin-receptor activity of the cells is destroyed by treatment with trypsin. Analogous effects are observed with thyroid plasma membrane vesicles which are essentially devoid of mitochondrial and soluble enzyme activities. Triphenylmethylphosphonium uptake and stimulation by thyrotropin occurs when NaCl, KCl, or Tris.HCl concentration gradients are artifically imposed across the vesicle membrane ([salt](out) > [salt](in)). It seems likely, therefore, that triphenylmethylphosphonium uptake is driven by a chloride diffusion potential (interior negative) and that thyrotropin either increases the permeability of the membrane to anions or decreases its permeability to cations. Thyrotropin-stimulated triphenylmethylphosphonium uptake in the vesicle preparations reaches a quasi steady-state within 3 min; in contrast, thyrotropin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity is negligible during this period of time, becomes measurable after about 4 min, and is optimal after 12-15 min. Thus, a primary mode of action of thyrotropin on the thyroid cell may be an alteration in the electrical potential across the plasma membrane. The relevance of this observation to the mechanism of action of other glycoprotein hormones, certain bacterial toxins, and interferon is discussed.