Two-stage hormonal control of type IV collagen mRNA levels during differentiation of F9 teratocarcinoma cells.

A cDNA clone related to mouse Type IV collagen has been prepared from F9 teratocarcinoma cells induced to differentiate with retinoic acid and dibutyryl-cAMP. This cDNA clone has been used to investigate the regulation of Type IV collagen mRNA during differentiation. The level of this mRNA is very low in untreated F9 cells, increases substantially after treatment of the cells with retinoic acid, and is further increased by addition of dibutyryl-cAMP. In contrast, dibutyryl-cAMP has no effect on the mRNA level in cells that have not been previously exposed to retinoic acid. These results demonstrate that these two compounds regulate in a sequential manner the steady-state level of Type IV collagen mRNA. This cDNA clone should allow a detailed examination of the mechanism of the two-stage regulation of collagen expression by retinoids and cyclic AMP.