Response of the corpus luteum to luteinizing hormone

The response of steroidogenic tissues to tropic hormones is regulated in part by specific receptors in the target cells for the stimulatory hormone. As a result of hormone binding to receptor the enzyme adenylate cyclase is activated with a resultant increase in intracellular levels of cAMP. Enhanced protein kinase activity then leads to increased steroidogenesis via several possible mechanisms, including direct activation of components of steroidogenic enzyme systems via phosphorylation. The initial effects of tropic hormones such as LH are dependent upon the number of receptors present on the surface of the target cell. Numerous factors influence the number of LH receptors in the corpus luteum. A model is presented for the mechanisms involved in the loss and renewal of LH receptors in the luteal cell. The life of the LH receptor on luteal cells appears to be a single binding of hormone. The hormone-receptor complex is then internalized by endocytosis and the hormone is degraded in lysosomes. After internalization the receptor is also degraded in lysosomes or recycled via the Golgi apparatus. New or recycled receptors for LH are incorporated into the limiting membrane of protein containing secretory granules. One of the actions of LH is enhancement of the exocytosis of these secretory granules with incorporation of the limiting membrane (and the LH receptors?) of the granule into the plasma membrane of the cell. These proposed mechanisms explain the increase in the number of receptors for LH seen immediately after stimulation of the luteal cell with massive doses of LH and also explain the "down-regulation" of LH receptors 24 hr after administration of LH.