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Somatomedin-C or insulin-like growth factor I (Sm-C/IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) have been implicated in the regulation of fetal growth and development. In the present study 32P-labeled complementary DNA probes encoding human and mouse Sm-C/IGF-I and human IGF-II were used in Northern blot hybridizations to analyse rat Sm-C/IGF-I and IGF-II mRNAs in poly(A+) RNAs from intestine, liver, lung, and brain of adult rats and fetal rats between day 14 and 17 of gestation. In fetal rats, all four tissues contained a major mRNA of 1.7 kilobases (kb) that hybridized with the human Sm-C/IGF-I cDNA and mRNAs of 7.5, 4.7, 1.7, and 1.2 kb that hybridized with the mouse Sm-C/IGF-I cDNA. Adult rat intestine, liver, and lung also contained these mRNAs but Sm-C/IGF-I mRNAs were not detected in adult rat brain. These findings provide direct support for prior observations that multiple tissues in the fetus synthesize immunoreactive Sm-C/IGF-I and imply a role for Sm-C/IGF-I in fetal development as well as postnatally. The abundance of a 7.5-kb Sm-C/IGF-I mRNA in poly(A+) RNAs from adult rat liver was 10-50-fold higher than in other adult rat tissues which provides further evidence that in the adult rat the liver is a major site of Sm-C/IGF-I synthesis and source of circulating Sm-C/IGF-I. Multiple IGF-II mRNAs of estimated sizes 4.7, 3.9, 2.2, 1.75, and 1.2 kb were observed in fetal rat intestine, liver, lung, and brain. The 4.7- and 3.9-kb mRNAs were the major hybridizing IGF-II mRNAs in all fetal tissues. Higher abundance of IGF-II mRNAs in rat fetal tissues compared with adult tissues supports prior hypotheses, based on serum IGF-II concentrations, that IGF-II is predominantly a fetal somatomedin. IGF-II mRNAs are present, however, in some poly(A+) RNAs from adult rat tissues. The brain was the only tissue in the adult rat where the 4.7- and 3.9-kb IGF-II mRNAs were consistently detected. Some samples of adult rat intestine contained the 4.7- and 3.9-kb IGF-II mRNAs and some samples of adult liver and lung contained the 4.7-kb mRNA. These findings suggest that a role for IGF-II in the adult rat, particularly in the central nervous system, cannot be excluded.

Phosphorylation of the somatomedin-C receptor was investigated both in intact IM-9 cells and in IM-9 cells that had been solubilized with Triton X-100. Intact IM-9 cells were incubated with [32P]H3PO4 for 1 h and for an additional 5 min in the absence or presence of insulin or somatomedin-C. The cells were then solubilized and subjected to wheat germ agglutinin Sepharose chromatography. The extent of phosphorylation of insulin and somatomedin-C receptors was assessed by immunoprecipitating the wheat germ agglutinin Sepharose eluates with monoclonal antibodies specific for each receptor and analyzing the immunoprecipitates by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The beta-subunits of both receptors were phosphorylated in the absence of hormone, and the extent of phosphorylation of each receptor was enhanced by both hormones. However, each hormone was more potent than the other in enhancing phosphorylation of its own receptor. The beta-subunit of the somatomedin-C receptor was also phosphorylated when solubilized IM-9 cells that had been purified on wheat germ agglutinin Sepharose were incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP. In this soluble preparation, phosphorylation occurred on tyrosyl residues and was enhanced by concentrations of somatomedin-C in the range of 2.5 to 250 ng/ml, which is consistent with its receptor affinity. Tyrosyl phosphorylation of the somatomedin-C receptor also occurred when highly purified receptor, prepared by wheat germ agglutinin Sepharose affinity chromatography followed by immunoprecipitation, was incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP. This indicates that the responsible tyrosyl kinase activity is intrinsic to the receptor or tightly associated with it.

We have previously shown that the antireceptor antibody alpha IR-3 inhibits binding of 125I-somatomedin-C/insulin-like growth factor I (Sm-C/IGF-I) to the 130-kDa alpha subunit of the type I receptor in human placental membranes, but does not block 125I-insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) binding to a similar 130-kDa complex in these membranes. To determine whether the 130-kDa 125I-IGF-II binding complex represents a homologous receptor or whether 125I-IGF-II binds to the type I receptor at a site that is not blocked by alpha IR-3, type I receptors were purified by affinity chromatography on Sepharose linked alpha IR-3. The purified receptors bound both 125I-Sm-C/IGF-I and 125I-IGF-II avidly (KD = 2.0 X 10(-10) M and 3.0 X 10(-10) M, respectively). The maximal inhibition of 125I-Sm-C/IGF-I binding by the antibody, however, was 62% while only 15% of 125I-IGF-II binding was inhibited by alpha IR-3. In the presence of 500 nM alpha IR-3, Sm-C/IGF-I bound with lower affinity (KD = 6.5 X 10(-10) M) than IGF-II (KD = 4.5 X 10(-10) M) and IGF-II was the more potent inhibitor of 125I-Sm-C/IGF-I binding. These findings suggest that the type I receptor contains two different binding sites. The site designated IA has highest affinity for Sm-C/IGF-I and is blocked by alpha IR-3. Site IB has higher affinity for IGF-II than for Sm-C/IGF-I and is not blocked by alpha IR-3.

Ubiquitin is a 76-amino acid protein whose sequence is highly conserved throughout evolution from invertebrates to mammals. It is both a cytoplasmic and nuclear protein. In the cytoplasm it is involved in ATP-dependent nonlysosomal proteolysis. In the nucleus, ubiquitin is conjugated to histone 2A and may play a role in regulation of chromatin structure and/or regulation of transcriptional activity. During attempts to identify a cDNA encoding somatomedin-C (insulin-like growth factor I) we screened a fetal human liver cDNA library with a mixture of 17 base oligonucleotides corresponding to a portion of the B chain of somatomedin-C. One oligonucleotide of the mixture hybridized to two cDNAs encoding ubiquitin despite a 2-base pair mismatch. Nucleotide sequence analyses of the 350- and 516-base pair cDNAs revealed that they correspond to the same ubiquitin mRNA. The coding sequence of the 516-base pair cDNA begins at amino acid 5 of the ubiquitin sequence and encodes amino acids 5 through 76 of ubiquitin, an 80-amino acid carboxy-terminal extension, a 3' untranslated region, and a poly(A) tail. The finding that ubiquitin is synthesized as a precursor raises the possibility that the precursor sequence may be important in compartmentalization of ubiquitin or ubiquitin precursors. Analyses of ubiquitin mRNAs in poly(A) RNA extracted from human liver and various rat tissues reveals that there are three distinct mRNAs encoding ubiquitin in humans and four mRNAs in the rat.

Three monoclonal antibodies, designated alpha IR-1, alpha IR-2, and alpha IR-3, were prepared by fusing FO myeloma cells with spleen cells from a mouse immunized with a partially purified preparation of insulin receptors from human placenta. These antibodies were characterized by their ability to immunoprecipitate solubilized receptors labeled with 125I-insulin or 125I-somatomedin-C in the presence or absence of various concentrations of unlabeled insulin or somatomedin-C. alpha IR-1 preferentially immunoprecipitates insulin receptors and also less effectively immunoprecipitates somatomedin-C receptors, while alpha IR-2 and alph IR-3 preferentially immunoprecipitate somatomedin-C receptors, but may also weakly immunoprecipitate insulin receptors. These three monoclonal antibodies, as well as A410, a rabbit polyclonal antibody, were used to immunoprecipitate insulin and somatomedin-C receptors from solubilized human lymphoid (IM-9) cells and human placenta membranes that had been 125I-labeled with lactoperoxidase. Analysis of the immunoprecipitates by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicates that both receptors are composed of alpha and beta subunits. The beta subunit of the insulin receptor (immunoprecipitated by alpha IR-1 and A410) has a slightly more rapid mobility than the corresponding subunit of the somatomedin-C receptor (immunoprecipitated by alpha IR-2 and alpha IR-3). Interestingly, the alpha subunit of the placenta somatomedin-C receptor has a slightly faster mobility than its counterpart from IM-9 cells. Immunoprecipitation of receptor that had been reduced and denatured to generate isolated subunits indicates that alpha IR-2 and alpha IR-3 interact with the alpha subunit of the somatomedin-C receptor while A410 interacts with both subunits of the insulin receptor. alpha IR-1 failed to react with reduced and denatured receptors.

The ovarian granulosa cell has recently been shown to be the site of Somatomedin C (Sm-C) production, reception, and action. To further elucidate the relevance of Sm-C to granulosa cell physiology, we have undertaken to study the regulation of its receptor under in vitro conditions using a primary culture of rat granulosa cells. Granulosa cells cultured without treatment for 72 h displayed limited, albeit measurable, specific Sm-C binding. However, continuous treatment with increasing concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) for the duration of the 72-h incubation period resulted in dose-dependent increments in Sm-C binding (1.7-, 2.9-, 3.9-, and 3.6-fold increases over untreated controls for 50, 100, 180, and 330 ng/ml of FSH, respectively). This apparent up regulatory action of FSH proved time-dependent, with a minimal time requirement of 24-48 h. Granulosa cell Sm-C binding was similarly enhanced following elevation of the intracellular cAMP content by a series of cAMP-generating agonists, inhibition of cAMP-phosphodiesterase activity, or the provision of nondegradable cAMP analogs. Our findings further indicate that high dose forskolin, like FSH, is capable of augmenting Sm-C binding by itself, that a relatively inactive low dose of forskolin synergizes with FSH in this regard, but that combined treatment with maximal stimulatory doses of both agonists does not prove additive. Taken together, these observations indicate that FSH is capable of exerting a stimulatory effect on granulosa cell Sm-C binding and that cAMP, its purported intracellular second messenger, may play an intermediary role in this regard.