Shepherd S P, Holzwarth M A
Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA.
Endocr Res. 1996 Nov;22(4):839-43. doi: 10.1080/07435809609043783.
Previous morphological and physiological evidence indicates that the adrenal medulla can modulate adrenocortical steroidogenesis, most likely via paracrine or neuronal interactions. To study directly chromaffin-adrenocortical cellular interactions, we previously developed co-cultures of frog (Rana pipiens) adrenal (interrenal) cells. Importantly, chromaffin cells in these co-cultures extend processes that project toward or onto adrenocortical cells, thereby providing the substrate for direct autonomic regulation of adrenocortical function and also mimicking the organization in vivo. To test whether chromaffin cells in our co-cultures affect adrenocortical steroidogenesis, we used veratridine, a sodium ionophore, to depolarize chromaffin cells. Chronic veratridine (50 microM) results in increased corticosterone secretion on days 3 (950%), and 4 (350%). These results indicate that chromaffin cell activation results in the modulation of corticosteroidogenesis.
先前的形态学和生理学证据表明，肾上腺髓质很可能通过旁分泌或神经元相互作用来调节肾上腺皮质的类固醇生成。为了直接研究嗜铬细胞与肾上腺皮质细胞之间的相互作用，我们之前建立了青蛙（豹蛙）肾上腺（肾间组织）细胞的共培养体系。重要的是，这些共培养体系中的嗜铬细胞会伸出突起，伸向肾上腺皮质细胞或延伸至其表面，从而为肾上腺皮质功能的直接自主调节提供了基础，并且也模拟了体内的组织结构。为了测试我们共培养体系中的嗜铬细胞是否会影响肾上腺皮质的类固醇生成，我们使用了藜芦碱（一种钠离子载体）使嗜铬细胞去极化。长期使用藜芦碱（50微摩尔）会导致第3天（增加950%）和第4天（增加350%）皮质酮分泌增加。这些结果表明，嗜铬细胞的激活会导致皮质类固醇生成的调节。
