Presence of ACTH and its receptor on a B lymphocytic cell line: a possible autocrine function for a neuroendocrine hormone.

A mouse B lymphocytic cell line, designated BCL1, was found to produce immunoreactive ACTH and to secrete this molecule into culture supernates. The BCL1-derived ACTH induced Y-1 adrenal cells to undergo a steroidogeneic response and was eluted from gel filtration columns at a molecular weight similar to that expected for pituitary-derived ACTH. Furthermore, ACTH receptors were detected on the surface of BCL1 cells using indirect immunofluorescence and 125I-ACTH binding studies. Scatchard analysis demonstrated the presence of high and low affinity binding sites with dissociation constants of 4.5 x 10(-12) M and 2.8 x 10(-9) M, respectively. The production of both ACTH and its receptor by this B lymphocyte cell line suggests that an autocrine mechanism might be important for the maintenance of the transformed phenotype.