Culture of intact Sertoli/germ cell units and isolated Sertoli cells from Squalus testis. II. Stimulatory effects of insulin and IGF-I on DNA synthesis in premeiotic stages.

To investigate growth control mechanisms during spermatogenesis in vitro, [3H]thymidine incorporation into acid-insoluble macromolecules was used to quantify DNA synthesis in cultured spermatocysts (intact Sertoli cell/germ cell clones) derived from premeiotic (PrM), meiotic (M), and postmeiotic (PoM) regions of dogfish (Squalus acanthias) testis. Forty-eight hours after seeding in basal medium, DNA synthesis was > 7-fold higher in PrM cysts than in other stages, thus verifying the staging procedure. In autoradiograms, germ cells of PrM cysts (e.g., spermatogonial and preleptotene stages) were labeled all-or-none, but not all cysts were labeled, and later developmental stages (e.g., cysts with round or elongating spermatids) were never labeled. Fetal bovine serum (FBS, 10%) and insulin-transferrin-selenite (ITS, 10 micrograms-10 ng/ml) doubled DNA synthesis in PrM cyst cultures but had no effect at other stages. Bovine insulin (10 micrograms/ml) and human recombinant insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I, 15 ng/ml) also doubled [3H]thymidine uptake in PrM cultures, but lower doses were less effective and estradiol-17 beta, transferrin, adult shark serum, purified shark relaxin, and a variety of other known growth factors were neither stimulatory nor inhibitory at the doses and conditions tested. Sertoli cell monolayers derived from PrM- or M-stage spermatocysts displayed a dose-response increase in DNA synthesis after addition of IGF-I (15-75 ng/ml), with a maximal increment significantly greater than with 10% FBS. Using [3H]thymidine incorporation by PrM cysts as an end-point, stimulatory bioactivity was detected in the < 30,000 kDa fraction of spent media from PrM Sertoli cells, whereas the low molecular weight fraction of M-stage Sertoli cells was inhibitory. Gel electrophoretic analysis of the two fractions revealed qualitative and quantitative differences in protein banding patterns, reinforcing the view that secretory activity of Sertoli cells is stage related. Results of these studies implicate insulin/IGF-I in mechanisms governing proliferation of male germ cells and support the view that Sertoli cells have an autocrine or paracrine role as both targets and sources of growth regulatory factors.