Down-regulation of liver JAK2-STAT5b signaling by the female plasma pattern of continuous growth hormone stimulation.

The suppression of male-specific, GH pulse-induced, liver transcription in adult female rats has been linked to the down-regulation of STAT5b activation by the female plasma pattern of near-continuous GH exposure. The mechanism underlying this down-regulation was studied in the rat liver cell line CWSV-1, where continuous GH suppressed the level of activated (tyrosine- phosphorylated) STAT5b to approximately 10-20% of the maximal GH pulse-induced STAT5b signal within 3 h. In contrast to the robust JAK2 kinase-dependent STAT5b activation loop that is established by a GH pulse, JAK2 kinase signaling to individual STAT5b molecules was found to be short lived in cells treated with GH continuously. Moreover, maintenance of the low-level STAT5b signal required ongoing protein synthesis and persisted for at least 7 days provided that GH was present in the culture continuously. Increased STAT5b DNA-binding activity was observed in cells treated with the proteasome inhibitor MG132, suggesting that at least one component of the GH receptor (GHR)-JAK2-STAT5b signaling pathway becomes labile in response to continuous GH treatment. The phosphotyrosine phosphatase inhibitor pervanadate fully reversed the down-regulation of STAT5b DNA-binding activity in continuous GH-treated cells by a mechanism that involves both increased STAT5b activation and decreased STAT5b dephosphorylation. Moreover, the requirement for ongoing GH stimulation and active protein synthesis to maintain STAT5b activity in continuous GH-treated cells were both eliminated by pervanadate treatment, suggesting that phosphotyrosine dephosphorylation may be an obligatory first step in the internalization/degradation pathway for the GHR-JAK2 complex. Finally, the sustaining effect of the serine kinase inhibitor H7 on GH pulse-induced JAK2 signaling to STAT5b was not observed in continuous GH-treated cells. These findings suggest a model where continuous GH exposure of liver cells down-regulates the STAT5b pathway by a mechanism that involves enhanced dephosphorylation of both STAT5b and GHR-JAK2, with the latter step leading to increased internalization/degradation of the re-ceptor-kinase complex.

Termination of growth hormone pulse-induced STAT5b signaling.

STAT5b (signal transducer and activator of transcription 5b) is a key mediator of the effects of plasma GH pulses on male-specific liver gene expression. STAT5b is activated in liver cells in vivo by physiological pulses of GH and then is rapidly deactivated. Investigation of the cellular events involved in this activation/deactivation cycle using the rat liver cell line CWSV-1 established that a brief exposure to GH and the associated activation of JAK2 (Janus kinase 2) tyrosine kinase activity are both necessary and sufficient to initiate all of the downstream steps associated with STAT5b activation by tyrosine phosphorylation and the subsequent deactivation of both JAK2 kinase and STAT5b. JAK2 signaling to STAT5b at the conclusion of a GH pulse could be sustained by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide or by the proteasome inhibitor MG132, indicating that termination of this JAK2-catalyzed STAT activation loop requires synthesis of a labile or GH-inducible protein factor and is facilitated by the proteasome pathway. This factor may be a phosphotyrosine phosphatase, since the phosphatase inhibitor pervanadate both sustained GH pulse-induced JAK2 signaling to STAT5b and blocked the rapid deactivation of phosphorylated STAT5b (t(1/2) = 8.8 +/- 0.9 min) seen in its absence. Finally, the serine kinase inhibitor H7 blocked down-regulation of JAK2 signaling to STAT5b in a manner that enabled cells to respond to a subsequent GH pulse without the need for the approximately 3-h interpulse interval normally required for full recovery of GH pulse responsiveness. Termination of GH pulse-induced STAT5b signaling is thus a complex process that involves multiple biochemical events. These are proposed to include the down-regulation of JAK2 signaling to STAT5b via a cycloheximide- and H7-sensitive step, proteasome-dependent degradation of a key component or regulatory factor, and dephosphorylation leading to deactivation of the receptor-kinase signaling complex and its STAT5b substrate via the action of a phosphotyrosine phosphatase.

Regulation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 5b activation by the temporal pattern of growth hormone stimulation.

Plasma GH profiles, intermittent in adult male and continuous in adult female rats, respectively, activate unique patterns of gene transcription in male and female rat liver. Pulsatile, but not continuous, GH exposure activates liver STAT5 (signal transducer and activator of transcription-5) by tyrosine phosphorylation, leading to nuclear translocation, and is proposed to play a key role in GH pulse-regulated male-specific liver gene expression. The mechanisms underlying the GH pattern dependence of STAT5 activation are presently investigated using a rat hepatocyte-derived cell line. Rat GH stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation followed by serine or threonine phosphorylation, leading to activation of the DNA-binding activity of STAT5b, the major STAT5 form present in these cells. Maximal STAT5b activation required a full 20 min at a receptor-saturating GH concentration of 50 ng/ml, suggesting that hormone binding leading to receptor dimerization is a relatively slow process. Repeat cycles of GH pulsation led to repeat cycles of STAT5b activation followed by deactivation, similar to rat liver in vivo. Full responsiveness to succeeding GH pulses required a minimum GH off-time of > or = 2.5 h, but was independent of new protein synthesis. Continuous GH exposure led to down-regulation of activated STAT5b, consistent with the desensitization of this GH pulse-activated pathway observed in female rat liver. The rapid deactivation of STAT5b after termination of a GH pulse involved phosphotyrosine dephosphorylation as a key first step and could be blocked by pervanadate, a phosphotyrosine phosphatase inhibitor. Unexpectedly, serine/threonine kinase inhibitors also inhibited STAT5b deactivation. These studies establish that STAT5b is responsive to the temporal pattern of GH stimulation and demonstrate a role for both a tyrosine phosphatase and a serine/threonine kinase in resetting this JAK/STAT signaling apparatus so that it may respond to subsequent rounds of GH pulse activation.

Expression of FSH in CHO cells, I. Comparison of promoter types and effects of their respective inducers.

The expression levels of recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone (r-hFSH) were studied in several CHO-Kl derived cell lines. The cell lines varied in the promoter used to control r-hFSH expression and in the subunit gene copy ratio. FSH is a heterodimeric molecule, with 2 N-glycosylation sites per peptide chain, and shares a common alpha subunit with the other gonadotropins. Serum stimulated FSH production in the beta actin promoter cell lines 2-3 times over the 7-10 ng/10(6) cells/h levels obtained in protein-free medium. Serum seemed to have roles other than purely at the transcriptional level judging by the increased free alpha to dimer ratio secreted from cells cultured in serum-free medium. Zinc induced FSH expression in metallothionein cell lines, with a 3-fold induction at 50 microM concentrations compared to 0 microM zinc, giving specific productivities of about 7-10 ng/10(6) cells/h, but the induction kinetics were complicated, and suggested other roles for zinc in addition to activation of the metallothionein promoter. Evidence suggested significant post-transcriptional regulation of FSH expression.

Expression of FSH in CHO cells. II. Stimulation of hFSH expression levels by defined medium supplements.

A Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO-K1) derived cell line, which expresses human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH) under the control of a beta actin promoter, was used as a model system to study heterologous glycoprotein expression. It has been shown previously that specific productivities in this cell line were three times higher in the presence of serum than in its absence. In this paper, a systematic study was made of the affects of various serum components of product levels in order to determine if the affect of serum on FSH expression could be duplicated by defined medium supplements. Culture media were supplemented with growth factors, direct activators of secondary messengers, steroids, lipids and various sugars. It was shown that the components with the most stimulatory affect of hFSH expression were sodium butyrate, mevalonate and hydrocortisone. Although butyrate has been shown to elevate transcription of some genes, it was concluded that this could not have been the only mechanism of action, since mevalonate and hydrocortisone are both implicated in the lipid pathway of protein glycosylation, but not with transcriptional activation of the beta actin promoter. Conversely, actual supply of dolichol-linked oligosaccharide for glycosylation was probably not rate limiting, since butyrate has never been reported to affect the supply of this comerabolite, but glycosylation is likely to be implicated in some way.