Regulation of IGFBP secretion and modulation of cell growth in MDBK cells

The ability of IGF binding proteins (IGFBP) to modulate cell growth and IGF-I responsiveness of epithelial cells was examined using the Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cell line. The predominant IGFBP present in conditioned media (CM) of untreated cells was found to be IGFBP-2. Following exposure to forskolin, the abundance of IGFBP-2 in CM was decreased, while IGFBP-3 and -4 were induced. These changes corresponded with alterations in mRNA abundance. Growth of MDBK cells in serum-free media was stimulated by addition of 2.5 to 50 ng/ml of IGF-I in a dose responsive manner. Coincubation with equimolar amounts of IGF-I and exogenous bovine IGFBP-3 potentiated the growth response observed with IGF-I alone. In order to alter endogenous IGFBP-3 secretion, cells were exposed to transfection with an expression vector containing sense IGFBP-3 cDNA. Following selection and amplification with methotrexate, cells underwent a permanent alteration in cell morphology, exhibiting characteristics of transporting epithelia. This was associated with secretion of IGFBP-3 under basal conditions. Secretion of IGFBP-3 was due to expression of endogenous IGFBP-3 and not to expression of the transgene. Cells expressing IGFBP-3 under basal conditions grew slower in serum, but were more responsive to 100 ng/ml of IGF-1 in serum-free media compared to wild-type MDBK cells. The role of IGFBP-3 in mediating these responses requires further study.