Differential effects of thyrotropin on various glycosyltransferases in porcine thyroid cells

Porcine thyroid cells were cultured with or without thyrotropin for 9 days. It is known that the hormone enhances the synthesis of thyroglobulin, with an increase in the content and stability of its m-RNA. We show in the present work that thyrotropin also stimulates a number of glycosyltransferases diversely situated along the process of N-glycosylation. The most increased was oligosaccharyltransferase, responsible for attachment to nascent peptides of preformed core carbohydrate sequences. The relatively low activity level of oligosaccharyltransferase and its preferential responsiveness to thyrotropin supports the possibility of a regulation point at this enzyme.