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Expression of sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) by thyroid epithelial cells is primarily regulated by TSH, which acts at the level of NIS gene transcription. Knowledge of the mechanisms governing NIS expression mainly comes from studies of rat thyroid-derived cell lines forming cell monolayers. In this study we investigated the impact of the three-dimensional organization of thyroid cells into follicles on the regulation of NIS expression. We used porcine thyrocytes in primary culture that, depending on cell density and the moment TSH is added, either predominantly form a cell monolayer (CM) or reconstitute thyroid follicles (RTF). NIS expression analyzed at transcript and protein levels was remarkably high in RTF compared with CM. Cells forming RTF were NIS positive, whereas in CM, NIS was only detected in the limited number of cells forming follicle-like structures. When thyrocytes were cultured at increasing cell density to obtain a gradual shift from CM to RTF, the progressive increase in the proportion of cells enrolled in RTF was accompanied by a parallel increase in NIS expression. Other TSH-regulated genes, thyroperoxidase, Na(+),K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase alpha-subunit, and thyroglobulin, were expressed at similar levels whatever the organization of thyrocytes in culture. The transcription factor, Pax-8, was equally expressed in NIS-negative CM and NIS-positive RTF. We show that TSH highly activates NIS expression only when thyrocytes have undergone histiotypic morphogenesis. This finding suggests that TSH activation of NIS gene transcription might involve, in addition to Pax-8, a regulatory factor(s) whose synthesis and/or activity are triggered by cell-cell interaction(s) occurring in the course of folliculogenesis.

The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) is a membrane protein mediating the active transport of iodide into the thyroid gland. NIS, expressed by human, rat, and mouse thyrocytes, is encoded by a single transcript. We identified NIS mRNA species of 3.5 and 3 kb in porcine thyrocytes. Because porcine thyrocytes in primary culture is a widely used experimental system for thyroid iodide metabolism, we further examined the origin and the function of the porcine NIS (pNIS) transcripts. We generated a porcine thyroid cDNA library from which four different clones, pNIS-D, F, J, and Delta J were isolated. pNIS-D encodes a protein of 643 amino acids highly homologous to the human, rat, and mouse NIS. pNIS-F and J differ from each other and from pNIS-D in their C-terminal part. pNIS-Delta J lacks a six-amino-acid segment within the putative transmembrane domain 10. Transiently expressed in Cos-7 cells, the four pNIS-cDNAs led to the synthesis of proteins targeted at the plasma membrane and conferred perchlorate-sensitive iodide uptake activities to Cos-7 cells, except pNIS-Delta J, which was devoid of activity. PNIS-D probably derives from the 3.5-kb transcript and pNIS-F, J, and Delta J from the 3-kb transcript. The relative abundance of pNIS-D, F, and J transcripts in porcine thyrocytes was about 60%, 35%, and 5%, respectively; the Delta J transcript was not present in detectable amount. By comparing porcine NIS genomic and cDNA sequences, splice donor and acceptor sites accounting for the generation of pNIS-F, J, and Delta J transcripts were identified. None of the combinations of alternative splice sites found in the pig was present in the human, rat or mouse NIS gene. Our data show that porcine NIS gene, contrary to the NIS gene from other species, gives rise to splice variants leading to three active and one inactive NIS proteins.

Thyrocytes, that generate and use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to synthesize thyroid hormones, undergo apoptosis, as do most cell types, when exposed in vitro to H2O2. We have studied 1) the kinetics and the amplitude of the apoptotic response to H2O2 and 2) the relationship between the extent of the apoptosis-inducing effect of H2O2, the H2O2 degradation activity, and the level of expression of apoptosis regulatory proteins, Bcl-2 and Bax, in pig thyrocytes in primary culture. Cells were seeded at high density to obtain confluent monolayers and were cultured in the presence of TSH to maintain the expression of differentiation. H2O2 (10-300 microM) induced the appearance of cells with fragmented DNA (terminal transferase deoxy-UTP-fluorescein isothiocyanate nick end labeling-positive cells) at a maximum of 3-4 h after H2O2 addition and then the detachment of apoptotic cells from the cell monolayer. The proportion of detached cells increased with H2O2 concentration and amounted to up to 30% of the initial cell number after 24 h. The transient effect of H2O2 was related to its rapid degradation by cells and culture medium components (rate constant, approximately 0.1 min(-1)). Iterative additions of H2O2 produced cumulative apoptotic waves. The amplitude of the apoptotic response of thyrocytes to H2O2 progressively increased with the time of culture, up to 4-fold from days 1-8. This was not related to a change in the capacity of thyrocytes to degrade H2O2. During the same period of culture, the Bcl-2 cell content progressively decreased, whereas that of Bax concomitantly increased; thus, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio varied from about 6 on day 1 to 0.5 on day 10. These data show that the susceptibility of thyrocytes to undergo apoptosis increases with the time of culture and that the pronounced changes in the apoptotic status ofthyrocytes might be linked to coordinate modifications of the level of expression of pro- and antiapoptotic regulatory proteins.

We have designed a new experimental system based on in vitro reconstituted thyroid follicles (RTF) to study the relative implication of macropinocytosis and micropinocytosis processes in the internalization of thyroglobulin (Tg). Thyrocytes cultured in the presence of TSH reorganize in histiotypic and functional follicles. Tg, which accumulates into the newly formed intrafollicular lumen (IL), was pulse labeled with [125I]iodide. Basal or TSH-activated Tg internalization, i.e. transfer from IL to cells, was assessed by measuring [125I]Tg in the cells and the IL; the IL fraction was collected after selective opening of lumina by a short treatment of RTF in a calcium-free medium. We used the ratio between cellular and IL labeled Tg contents as an endocytic index. TSH caused a very rapid increase in the cellular uptake of labeled Tg; the endocytic index increased by a factor of 4-8. The TSH effect was maximum after 15-20 min. TSH had no effect when the chase-incubation was performed at 4 C, but exhibited the same stimulatory action in terms of both time course and amplitude of action at 20 and 37 C. The macropinocytosis-related cellular structures, the pseudopods, were never observed in RTF maintained at 20 C; they were rare at 37 C and only found after 30 min of TSH treatment. At 20 as well as 37 C, the action of TSH on Tg endocytosis was concentration dependent in the range of 0.05-10 mU/ml. A fraction of Tg internalized by thyrocytes was found in coated vesicles. The labeled Tg content of purified coated vesicles varied with the temperature of the chase-incubation and was increased in TSH-treated RTF. Taken together, these data show that endocytosis of Tg by thyroid follicular cells in resting or moderately activated states does not proceed via the pseudopod formation-dependent mechanism, also termed macropinocytosis. Tg internalization would be related to what is referred as micropinocytosis and would involve a coated vesicle-dependent endocytic pathway.

We have tried to characterize the intracellular compartments involved in the traffic of the thyroid prohormone thyroglobulin (Tg) from the site of storage, the follicular lumen, to the expected site(s) of proteolytic degradation, lysosomes. Electron microscope immunogold labeling with antibodies against Tg, cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptor (MPR), or arylsulfatase-A (ArS-A) was used to identify endocytic structures. The implication of these structures in the transport of Tg was analyzed by following the internalization and intracellular fate of Tg-colloidal gold complexes microinjected into the thyroid follicular lumen. Immunogold labeling was performed on ultrathin cryosections of intact pig tissue, in vitro reconstituted thyroid follicles (RTF), and isolated vesicles prepared by differential and isopycnic centrifugation. Microinjection experiments were carried out on RTF. Using double labeling for MPR and ArS-A, we characterized three types of structures: those slightly positive for MPR and ArS-A, those strongly positive for both markers, and those only positive for ArS-A. These compartments exhibited the properties of early endosomes (EE), late endosomes (LE), and lysosomes (L), respectively. Tg immunoreactivity was high in EE, low in LE, and undetectable in L. Similar morphological and immunochemical characteristics of EE, LE, and L were found in intact tissue, RTF, and isolated vesicles. Tg-gold complexes microinjected into the lumen of RTF were efficiently internalized within 5 min into structures with the appearance of EE. Sixty minutes after the injection, Tg-gold complexes were detected into LE and L. We present here the first direct experimental evidence for an involvement of endosomal compartments in the Tg internalization/degradation pathway. The data indicate that internalized Tg molecules are transported to EE and then transferred from EE to LE.