Stimulation of DNA synthesis in rat uterine cells by growth factors and uterine extracts

Abstract:  Stimulation of DNA synthesis in rat uterine cells by growth factors and uterine extracts. Beck CA, Garner CW. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock 79430. Replicative DNA synthesis, as measured by thymidine incorporation, has been measured in rat uterine cells in primary culture in response to growth factors. Insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), multiplication-stimu lating activity (MSA) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) stimulated DNA synthesis, while estradiol, epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and relaxin did not stimulate or did so weakly and only at very high concentrations. Uterine acid extracts also stimulated DNA synthesis. IGF-I stimulated at concentrations consistent with its acting through the IGF-I receptor; however, insulin stimulated at concentrations higher than expected for its acting through its receptor and this its action may be mediated through the IGF-I receptor. IGF-I was found in uterine tissue by radioimmunoassay (RIA). There was a 5- to 10-fold increase in IGF-I in the uteri from ovariectomized rats that had been treated with estradiol 24 h earlier. This is analogous to the increase in growth factor activity found previously in rat uterus after 24-h estradiol treatment (Beck, C.A. and Garner, C.W. (1989) Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. 63, 93-101). These data are consistent with the hypothesis that estradiol effects in the uterus are in part mediated through IGF-I. PMID: 1639215 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]