Expression of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone and its mRNA in human endometrial cancer cell lines.

Recent results have shown that specific binding sites for luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) are present in biopsy samples of human endometrial cancer and in the human endometrial cancer cell lines Ishikawa and HEC-1A. The proliferation of these cell lines was retarded by LHRH analogs. The present study was undertaken to determine whether these endometrial tumor cells also produce LHRH or an LHRH-like peptide which could serve as natural ligand for the LHRH binding sites. Using a specific antibody, LHRH-immunoreactivity was detected in extracts of Ishikawa (426 +/- 84 fmol/10(6) cells) and HEC-1A (368 +/- 41 fmol/10(6) cells) cells. LHRH-like bioactivity of these samples was assessed in a rat pituitary cell culture system. The release of luteinizing hormone induced by endometrial cancer cell extracts corresponded to that obtained with comparable amounts of authentic LHRH. The expression of the mRNA for LHRH could be demonstrated by reverse transcriptase - polymerase chain reaction using specific primers according to the published sequence and by subsequent Southern blot analysis. The presence of immuno- and bioactive LHRH-like factors and the demonstration of expression of the mRNA for LHRH in two human endometrial cancer cell lines supports the concept of an autocrine regulatory system based on LHRH in endometrial cancer.