Characteristics of thyrotrophin-stimulated cyclic AMP production in cultured human thyroid cells from thyrotoxic tissue and non-toxic goitres.

We have described a system for the maintenance in culture of isolated human thyroid cells from both thyrotoxic tissue and non-toxic goitres. The cells isolated from the two thyroid tissue types showed similar cyclic AMP response characteristics to TSH with large increases in intracellular and extracellular cyclic AMP after 20-min incubations. Maximal responses were obtained with 50 mu. TSH/ml and half-maximal responses at 1.0 mu. TSH/ml. With cell passage the cyclic AMP responses to TSH decreased in magnitude and sensitivity. As with other thyroid cultures, growth of the cells with TSH induced arrangement into follicular structures, whereas cells grown in the absence of TSH remained as a monolayer. Basal intracellular cyclic AMP levels were increased in a dose-related fashion in cells grown in the presence of graded concentrations of TSH and the maximal response to further additions of TSH was not greater than in control cultures.