Regulation of IGFBP-1 and -4 expression by triiodothyronine (T3) in cultured hepatocytes is cell- and gene-specific.

Evidence suggests that thyroid hormone plays a role in the regulation of hepatic IGF/IGFBP expression both in human and rats. In this study we compared the effect of T3 on IGFBP-1 and -4 expression in rat hepatocyte primary cultures and in the human hepatoma cell line HepG2. Northern blot analysis revealed that IGFBP-1 mRNA levels were not affected by T3 in cultured rat hepatocytes, whereas a net increase of IGFBP-1 transcript abundance was induced by the hormone in HepG2 cells. On the contrary, IGFBP-4 mRNA levels were increased in rat hepatocytes cultured in the presence of T3, but unaffected in T3-treated HepG2 cells. Therefore, thyroid hormone seems to regulate hepatic IGFBP expression in a direct and gene-specific way. Moreover, the effects of thyroid hormone depend strictly on the source of target hepatocyte.