The arachidonic acid signal system in the thyroid: regulation by thyrotropin and insulin/IGF-I

The present study and the previous report (6) show that the cyclooxygenase path is a primary route of metabolism of arachidonic acid in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells. The production of PGD2 and PGE2 is an active process in intact cells treated with complete medium including TSH, insulin and 5% calf serum. In contrast, PGF2 alpha and HHT are probably nonenzymatic degradation products of an unstable intermediate, PGH2, since the two compounds are produced and occupy a significant proportion of the cyclooxygenase metabolites only in the homogenate system; this is true in other cells. Although the production of prostaglandins involves three steps, i.e. the release of free arachidonic acid, the production of PGH2 by PGH synthase (cyclooxygenase) and the conversion of PGH2 to various prostaglandins by specific isomerases or synthetases, the first step, the release of free arachidonic acid, has been, until recently, believed to be the sole step important for the regulation of prostaglandin synthesis. This presumption rested on the following observations. Only the free form of arachidonic acid is converted to prostaglandins and the intracellular free arachidonic acid pool is very small compared to the esterified form in phospholipids. The size of the free arachidonic acid pool is regulated by the balance between release from phospholipids by phospholipases and reacylation into phospholipids. When resting cells are stimulated, the release of arachidonic acid and the production of prostaglandins increase concomitantly. The present study shows, however, that all three steps of prostaglandin synthesis are under regulatory control in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells and that the control is a complex process involving TSH, insulin/IGF-I, and serum. The first step is primarily under the control of TSH. TSH increases the synthesis of arachidonic acid and also, like norepinephrine (5, 6) induces the release of arachidonic acid from the cell by a mechanism involving a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein. Regulation of the second step can be estimated by measuring cyclooxygenase activity. The present report shows that TSH increases cyclooxygenase activity, presumably by increasing gene expression, but that the TSH effect on cyclooxygenase activity requires insulin/IGF-I or serum. This result is similar to studies showing the effect of TSH and insulin/IGF-I on glycosaminoglycan synthesis, thyroglobulin synthesis, and growth in FRTL-5 thyroid cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)