(Uncorrected OCR) Abstract of thesis entitled NOVEL ASPECTS OF AUTOCRINEIP ARACRINE REGULATION OF GROWTH HORMONE SECRETION AND SYNTHESIS IN GRASS CARP PITUITARY CELLS Submitted by ZHOUHONG for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Hong Kong in March 2003 In this study, autocrine/paracrine regulation of growth hormone (GH) synthesis and secretion by local interactions of gonadotrophs and somatotrophs was examined in vitro in pituitary cells prepared from Chinese grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus). Treatment with exogenous OH and gonadotropin (OTH) resulted in a dose-dependent increase in basal GH release, GH production, and GH mRNA levels. However, the opposite effects were observed by removing endogenous OR and OTH using immunoneutralization. Furthermore, GR and OTH immunoneutralizations at the pituitary level were effective in blocking the stimulatory influence on GH mRNA expression induced by GH-releasing factors in fish, including GnRH, dopamine, and PACAP38�Apparently" GH-induced GH gene expression was mediated by increasing the T1/2 ofGH mRNA in the cytoplasm and enhancing the production of GH primary transcripts in the nucleus. Since GH-induced OR mRNA gene expression could be blocked by inhibiting JAK2, P42144MAPK, P38MAPK, and PI3K, it is likely that the JAK/MAPK and JAK/PI3K pathways are involved in the GH receptor signaling. Similarly, exogenous GTH increased the production ofGH primary transcripts. However, it did not improve OR mRNA stability but rather enhanced the turnover of GH transcripts. GTR also increased cAMP production in carp pituitary cells. GTH-induced GH mRNA expression Was mimicked by activating cAMP synthesis and blocked by inhibiting adenylate cyclase (AC) and PKA.. GTH-induced OR mRNA expression was also sensitive to inhibition of JAKz, P42/44MAPK, P3SM.AP1C and PI3K. Similar inhibitions, except for PI3K, were all effective in blocking OR mRNA expression induced by activation of cAMP synthesis. These results indicate that GTH may induce GR gene expression through the AC/ cAMP/PKA pathway secondary coupled to JAK.2 andlor MAPK. Apparently, a cAMP-independent PI3K component is also involved in the post-receptor signaling. Using a colunm perifusion approach, the dynamic interactions between somaotrophs and gonadotrophs were examined. In this case, exogenous OTR induced a rapid rise in basal GH secretion, whereas exogenous GR was found to inhibit basal GTR release. In parallel studies, GTHinduced OR mRNA expression was abolished by OR immunoneutralization. Similarly, GTR immunoneutralization blocked GR-induced OR mRNA expression in carp pituitary cells. These results, as a whole, indicate that endogenously secreted OH and GTR, besides their functions as endocrine hormones, serve as novel autocrine/paracrine factors at the pituitary level to modulate GH secretion, OH production, OH gene expression, and somatotroph sensitivity to stimulation by hypothalamic regulators. These stimulatory influences of GH and GTR on OR gene expression axe exerted at the level of GR rnRNA stability and OH gene transcription, presumably via a direct coupling to the JAK/MAPK and JAKiPI3K cascades or an indirect coupling via the AC/cAMP/PKA pathway. Apparently, a local il1trapituitary feedback loop is present. In this case, GTH released from gonadotrophs stimulates GH secretion in neighboring somatotrophs. GR release from somatotrophs is essential to maintain basal GH synthesis and secretion and also exerts a negative feedback on basal GTB release. This intrapituitary feedback loop formed by local interactions between gonadotrophs and somatotrophs may represent a novel mechanism to control OR gene expression in lower vertebrates. / abstract / toc / Zoology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 60 p. : ill. (some col.) Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. [54]-60).

published_or_final_version / Biological Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-175). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-190). Also available via the Internet.

Limited information is available concerning the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate expression of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) genes in mammary epithelial cells. To test the hypothesis that IGF-I affects growth of bovine mammary epithelial cells through an autocrine and/or paracrine pathway, several cell lines were developed expressing an ovine exon-2 containing IGF-I cDNA under the control of the mouse mammary tumor virus-long terminal repeat (pMMTV-IGF-I), early simian virus (pSV40-IGF-I), and herpes simplex thymidine kinase (pTK-IGF-I) promoters. Stably transfected clones were generated by cotransfection of clonal MAC-T cells with the IGF-I expression vectors and a plasmid conferring resistance to hygromycin-B (HYG-B), using a calcium phosphate precipitation procedure. Induction of the MMTV-LTR with the glucocorticoid dexamethasone (DEX) was required for enhanced expression of IGF-I in MD-IGF-I (MD=Mammary Derived) cells, whereas SV40-IGF-I cells constitutively expressed the highest levels of IGF-I, followed by TK-IGF-I cells. Activity of the MMTV promoter in MD-IGF-I cells was coordinately regulated by lactogenic hormones and extracellular matrix. Acute secretion of DEX-induced recombinant IGF-I by MD-IGF-I cells stimulated cell proliferation through an autocrine/paracrine pathway and triggered the expression of IGFBP-3. Neither acute nor constitutive expression of IGF-I affected expression of type 1 IGF receptor mRNAs, but down-regulated cell surface receptor levels, in the order SV40-> TK- > MD-IGF-I. Secretion of IGF-I-induced IGFBP-3 potentiated the mitogenic actions of IGF-I as evidenced by enhancement of [³H]thymidine uptake into DNA of parental MAC-T cells. This study provides evidence that local production of IGF-I can stimulate cell proliferation of bovine mammary epithelial cells through an autocrine/paracrine mode of action. We suggest that secretion of IGF-I-induced IGFBP-3 by bovine mammary epithelial cells enhances cell responsiveness to IGF-I, but does not prevent down-regulation of the IGF-I receptor in cells constitutively expressing IGF-I. / Ph. D.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The immune system initiates tissue repair following injury. In response to sterile tissue injury, neutrophils infiltrate the tissue to remove tissue debris and subsequently undergo apoptosis. Proper clearance of apoptotic neutrophils in the tissue by recruited macrophages, in a process termed efferocytosis, is critical to facilitate the resolution of inflammation and tissue repair. However, the events leading to suppression of sterile inflammation following efferocytosis, and the contribution of other innate cell types are not clearly defined in an in vivo setting. Using a sterile mouse peritonitis model, we identified IL-4 production from efferocytosing macrophages in the peritoneum that activate invariant NKT cells to produce cytokines including IL-4 and IL-13. Importantly, IL-4 from macrophages functions in autocrine and paracrine circuits to promote alternative activation of peritoneal exudate macrophages and augment type-2 cytokine production from NKT cells to suppress inflammation. The increased peritonitis in mice deficient in IL-4, NKT cells, or IL-4Ra expression on myeloid cells suggested that each is a key component for resolution of sterile inflammation. The phagocyte NADPH oxidase, a multi-subunit enzyme complex we demonstrated to require a physical interaction between the Rac GTPase and the oxidase subunit gp91phox for generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is required for production of ROS within macrophage phagosomes containing ingested apoptotic cells. In mice with X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD) that lack gp91phox, efferocytosing macrophages were unable to produce ROS and were defective in activating iNKT during sterile peritonitis, resulting in enhanced and prolonged inflammation. Thus, efferocytosis-induced IL-4 production and activation of IL-4-producing iNKT cells by macrophages are immunomodulatory events in an innate immune circuit required to resolve sterile inflammation and promote tissue repair.