Evidence for carrier-mediated uptake of triiodothyronine in cultured anterior pituitary cells of euthyroid rats.

T3 uptake and TSH secretion were investigated in anterior pituitary cells isolated from adult fed Wistar rats and cultured for 3 days in medium containing 10% fetal calf serum. TSH release during culture increased linearly with the number of cells in the range of 80,000-800,000 cells/well. Uptake and incubation experiments were performed at 37 C in medium containing 0.5% BSA. Incubation with TRH (0.1 microM) for 2 h stimulated TSH release 2.6-fold, and this effect was partly (approximately 45%) suppressed by preexposure for 2 h to T3 (0.01-1 microM) or T4 (1 microM). Similar concentrations of T3 and T4 reduced the cellular uptake of [125I]T3 (50 pM) during 1 h of incubation by 55%. After 15 min of incubation, [125I]T3 uptake (percent dose) amounted to 1.26 +/- 0.05% (mean +/- SE; n = 9)/500,000 cells. The major part (75%) of the [125I]T3 was found in the extranuclear fraction. Simultaneous incubation with unlabeled T3 (1 or 10 microM) reduced [125I]T3 uptake by 43% (n = 3; P < 0.001) and 52% (n = 6; P < 0.001), respectively. Reduction of the temperature to 20 C diminished the T3-suppressible fraction of [125I]T3 uptake approximately 3-fold. After preincubation (30 min) and incubation (15 min) with monodansylcadaverine (100 microM), the uptake of [125I]T3 was reduced by 32% (n = 3; P < 0.01). When the Na+ gradient was reduced by preincubation and incubation with ouabain (0.5 mM) or monensin (10 or 100 microM), T3 uptake was inhibited by 25% (n = 5; P < 0.01), 37% (n = 6; P < 0.001), and 61% (n = 3; P < 0.001), respectively. It is concluded that 1) T3 is taken up by the pituitary by a carrier-mediated mechanism, and 2) this uptake is at least partly dependent on the Na+ gradient.