Modulation of steroidogenesis in choriocarcinoma cells by cholera toxin, phorbol ester, epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor I.

The effects of cholera toxin (CT), which stimulates adenylate cyclase, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), a protein kinase C activator, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on progesterone (P) and estradiol (E2) secretion by human choriocarcinoma JEG-3 cells were studied. During a 48 h incubation, CT, TPA and EGF stimulated P production in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas IGF-I was without effect. CT (1.0 ng/ml), TPA (10 ng/ml) and EGF (10 ng/ml) stimulated P production maximally 4.3-, 3.3- and 2.3-fold over basal, respectively. When added together with CT, TPA and EGF stimulated P production 10.0- and 5.0-fold over basal production showing that the effects of CT plus TPA were more than additive but those of CT plus EGF less than additive. Time-course studies indicated that the effects were detectable at 12 h, and continued to increase up to 48 h. The conversion of added dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) to E2 was stimulated by CT and TPA and inhibited by IGF-I in a concentration-dependent manner. By contrast, EGF had no effect. The maximal responses in E2 production were 3.2- and 2.0-fold over unstimulated cells by CT (1.0 ng/ml) and TPA (10 ng/ml), respectively. When both agents were added together, their effects on E2 production were additive with 5.5-fold increase over unstimulated cells. IGF-I (30 ng/ml) inhibited maximally basal and CT-stimulated E2 production by 33% and 42%, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)