Polyclonal antibodies against follitropin (FSH) receptor interfere with hormone binding, but mimic the effects of FSH.

We have raised polyclonal antibodies in rabbits against the FSH receptor, purified from calf testis and isolated the IgG fraction from the immune serum (immune IgG) by protein A affinity chromatography. When the immune IgG was incubated with purified, radioiodinated FSH receptor, the resulting complex could be immunoprecipitated by goat anti-rabbit gamma globulin. The immunoprecipitate, after dissociation of receptor from antibody, separation by SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions, and autoradiography, showed the presence of a approximately 60 kDa protein previously identified as a component of the FSH receptor. Binding of 125I-hFSH to membrane-bound receptors was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by immune IgG (Ed50 = 90 micrograms/ml). Nonimmune serum or IgM/IgA fractions from immune serum had no effect. 125I-labeled immune IgG bound specifically to testis membranes and the binding could be inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by ovine FSH. These results suggest that the FSH-binding site and the antibody-binding site on the receptor are proximate or identical. Immune IgG mimicked the ability of FSH to stimulate basal adenylate cyclase activity and conversion of androstenedione to estradiol in cultured immature rat Sertoli cells. Stimulatory but submaximal effects of FSH were augmented by immune IgG. Rat Sertoli cells treated with IgG fractions from immune serum showed an intense fluorescent staining of plasma membrane receptor. No fluorescent staining of receptor was seen when preimmune IgG was used or in the presence of excess ovine FSH. These observations suggest that the polyclonal receptor antibody capable of recognizing FSH receptor behaved as an FSH binding competitor, but was also active as an agonist producing the biological effect of FSH in vitro. The effectiveness of antibodies against FSH receptor in stimulating estradiol synthesis suggests that the information needed for FSH signal transduction resides in the membrane receptor rather than in the hormone molecule. Such antibodies may offer a useful probe for further study of FSH receptor structure and mechanism of hormone action.