The hypothesis that 17β-estradiol suppresses dopamine secretion into hypophysial portal blood was tested. Portal plasma concentrations of dopamine were significantly lower in proestrous rats (1.0 ± 0.1 ng/ml; mean ± SE) than in estrous rats (1.9 ± 0.38 ng/ml). To deplete the animal of endogenous steroid hormones, proestrous rats were adrenalectomized (Adx) and ovariectomized (Ovx). Twenty-four hours later, hypophysial portal blood was collected for 60 min, and the plasma from this blood was analyzed for dopamine. Arterial plasma from these rats was assayed for 17β-estradiol and progesterone. The concentrations of dopamine in the portal plasma of sham-operated rats and bilaterally Adx-Ovx rats were similar to those in estrous animals. The concentration of dopamine in portal plasma of Adx-Ovx rats injected 24 h earlier with 50 μg 17β-estradiol was 1.0 ± 0.31 ng/ml, which was comparabExposure of adipocytes from young rats (2–3 months old) to dexamethasone in vitro results in 40–50% inhibition of glucose transport and metabolism. ComparabDose-response curves were obtained for the production of androgen-binding protein (ABP) by Sertoli cells prepared from testes of 20-day-old rats and treated in culture with either FSH or testosterone (T). FSH stimulated ABP production by up to 3.5 times control levels. For NIH-FSH-Sll, the ED50 was 3 ng/ml, and for highly purified ovine FSH, the ED50 was 0.066 ng/ml. Addition of T produced a stimulation of up to 3 times control levels; half-maximal response was obtained at a dose of 4 nM. The presence of small numbers of contaminating Leydig cells in some preparations resulted in production of endogenous T, especially when high doses of NIH-FSH, which contains some LH, were employed. A modified preparatDissociation of [125I]iodoinsulin from adipocyte insulin receptors was studied in the presence or absence of the insulin derivatives, desoctapeptide insulin and desalanine desasparagine insulin. When cells were allowed to associate with a tracer concentration (10-10 M) of [125I]iodoinsulin and dissociation was studied in either insulin-free buffer or buffer containing 100 ng/ml unlabeled insulin, dissociation was accelerated in the presence of unlabeled insulin. This is consistent with negatively cooperative site-site interactions. On the other hand, when dissociation studies were performed in the presence of high concentrations of desoctapeptide insulin or desalanine desasparagine insulin, dissociation rates were slower than those observed in insulin-free buffer. In marked contrast, when cells were allowed to achieve a high fractional receptor occupancy by associating with high concentrations of either desoctapeptide insulin or desalanine desasparagTo study the relationship between formation and release of Golgi-derived secretory granules and progesterone secretion, slices of ovine luteal tissue were incubated in the presence of LH and/or calcium ionophore A23187. Increases in progesterone secretion in response to LH and/or ionophore were accompanied by a concomitant release of secretory granules. In contrast, in the presence of colchicine, LH-stimulated progesterone secretion was significantly reduced (P < 0.01), granule formation appeared to be blocked, and there was little evidence of exocytosis. In addition, unusual pleomorphic membranebounded saccules containing an electron-dense material were abundant throughout the centrospheric region of cells treated with colchicine. Because of the close paralMonolayer cultures of mouse adrenal tumor cell line Y-l have been used to investigate the effects of glucocorticoid on cell replication, [3H]thymidine incorporation into the trichloroacetic acid-precipitated cell fraction, steroidogenesis, and the ACTH receptors of adrenocortical cells. Corticosterone at a concentration of 5.0–50 μg/ml inhibited cell replication and [3H]thymidine incorporation into trichloroacetic acid-precipitated cell fraction in a dose-related manner. Corticosterone at a concentration of 5.0–50 μg/ml inhibited ACTH-induced steroidogenesis in a dose-related manner. Steroids which do not possess glucocorticoid action did not show such inhibitory effects on cell replication and steroidogenesis of Y-l cells. The characteristics of the ACTH receptors of these cells remained unaffected by corticosterone. Our findings suggest that synthesized or secreted glucocorticoid may play an important role in the direct regulation of proliferation and function of adrenocortical cells under physiological conditions. © 1979 by The Endocrine Society.
