THYROTROPIN-RELEASING-HORMONE STIMULATES POLYPHOSPHOINOSITIDE METABOLISM IN THE FROG NEUROINTERMEDIATE LOBE

Previous studies have demonstrated that TRH is a potent stimulator of α-MSH secretion from frog pituitary melanotrophs. In order to determine the intracellular events responsible for TRH-evoked α-MSH release, we have investigated the effect of TRH on polyphosphoinositide breakdown in frog pars intermedia. Neurointermediate lobes were labelled to isotopic equilibrium with myo-[3H]inositol. TRH stimulated the rate of incorporation of [3H]inositol into the phospholipid fraction. The effect of TRH was concentration-dependent; half-maximal stimulation of α-MSH release and inositol incorporation occurred at 12 and 28 nmol TRH/l respectively. In prelabeled neurointermediate lobes, lithium (10 mmol/l) enhanced the radioactivity in inositol monophosphate, bisphosphate (IP2) and trisphosphate (IP3). LiCl (10 mmol/l) induced a 38% inhibition of α-MSH release from perifused neurointermediate lobes but did not impair TRH-induced α-MSH secretion. In the presence of LiCl, TRH (1 μmol/l) induced a transient increase of the radioactivity in IP3, which was evident by 30 s and maximal by 1 min (+100%). TRH treatment also increased the radioactivity in IP2, which reached a plateau after 5 min (+100%). The increase in radioactivity in IP3 induced by TRH was closely paralleled by a rapid loss of [3H]phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2), which was maximal by 1 min (-70%). These results indicate that, in frog pars intermedia, TRH-evoked α-MSH secretion is coupled to breakdown of PIP2. The data suggest that, in amphibian melanotrophs, as previously shown in GH3 tumour cells and in rat pituitary mammotrophs, TRH causes rapid stimulation of polyphosphoinositide-hydrolysing phospholipase C.