Involvement of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate in the control of follicular steroidogenesis of amago salmon (Oncorhynchus rhodurus).

The role of cAMP in the control of follicular steroidogenesis of amago salmon (Oncorhynchus rhodurus) was studied using in vitro incubation of isolated thecal and granulosa layers. Particular attention was paid to the role of cAMP in the shift in the steroidogenic responses of follicle layers to gonadotropin (partially purified chum salmon gonadotropin, SGA) during oogenesis. First, the effects of SGA and forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, on intratissue accumulation of cAMP were determined using isolated thecal and granulosa layers from various stages of development. Regardless of the stage of development, SGA and forskolin stimulated cAMP formation in both layers within 1 hr of incubation. Second, the effects of SGA, forskolin, dibutyryl cAMP, and inhibitors of phosphodiesterase on testosterone and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone production by thecal layers and on the activities of aromatase and 20 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in granulosa layers from follicles of various developmental stages were investigated. All steroidogenic actions of SGA were mimicked by those agents known to raise the cellular level of cAMP. These results provide evidence that the steroidogenic actions of gonadotropin in both thecal and granulosa layers depend on increased intracellular cAMP, and they further suggest that a change in cellular events at a step(s) subsequent to cAMP production is involved in regulating the shift in the steroidogenic responses of follicle layers to gonadotropin.