3,3',5-Triiodothyronine-induced differences in water-insoluble protein synthesis in primary epidermal cell cultures from the hind limb of premetamorphic Rana catesbeiana tadpoles.

Epidermal cells from the hind limb of premetamorphic tadpoles of the American bullfrog Rana catesbeiana (stages IX-XI) were maintained in primary culture for 120 hr. Cultures, maintained for 36 hr in medium supplemented with L-triiodothyronine (T3; 3 x 10(-10) mol T3/ml medium), synthesize water-insoluble proteins with Mrs of 59, 50, 48, and 43. The 59 and 48 kDa proteins synthesized by T3-supplemented cultures are not detectably synthesized by 36-hr-old cell cultures without added T3, but they are synthesized by both hormone-supplemented and unsupplemented cultures after 120 hr. These two proteins have Mrs and pIs which correspond with keratins detected in stratifying mammalian epidermis and are immunoprecipitated by antibodies prepared against human keratins. These observations indicate that T3 induces epidermal cell cultures from the hind limb of premetamorphic tadpoles to precociously synthesize water-insoluble proteins which (1) have Mrs and pIs similar to keratins from differentiating amphibian epidermal tissue and (2) are biochemically and immunologically similar to keratins associated with the differentiation of mammalian epidermal tissue.