Inhibitory effects of superoxide dismutase and cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate on estrogen production in cultured rat granulosa cells.

Superoxide dismutases (SOD) modulate oxygen free radical metabolism and influence second messenger signaling in a variety of cell types. We have investigated the influence and possible mechanisms of action of SOD on aromatase activity in cultured rat granulosa cells. Although treatment of granulosa cells with FSH (0.3-30 ng/ml) resulted in a dose-dependent stimulation of estrogen levels, cotreatment of cells with SOD (10(-6) M) significantly attenuated estrogen production at the highest doses of FSH. The effects of SOD were dose dependent between 10(-7)-10(-5) M, with increasing amounts of SOD causing decreasing concentrations of estrogen. Cotreatment of cells with catalase (1500 U/ml) failed to prevent the inhibitory influence of SOD on estrogen production, indicating that the effects of SOD were not due to accumulation of hydrogen peroxide. Although incubation with either forskolin or (Bu)2cAMP alone stimulated estrogen production from granulosa cells, cotreatment with SOD significantly attenuated estrogen levels, indicating that SOD can inhibit aromatase activity at one or more post-FSH receptor sites. Treatment of cells with SOD, FSH, or forskolin resulted in small, but significant, increase in cGMP concentrations. In contrast, cotreatment of cells with FSH plus SOD as well as forskolin plus SOD had a marked synergistic effect on cGMP content, increasing cGMP levels over 100-fold. Incubation of granulosa cells with (Bu)2cGMP (2 mM) significantly decreased FSH-induced estrogen levels in a dose-dependent manner (0.25-2 mM). In addition, (Bu)2cGMP attenuated both forskolin- and (Bu)2cAMP-induced estrogen production. In contrast to the effects of (Bu)2cGMP and SOD on estradiol levels, these agents had no significant effect on progesterone production by cultured granulosa cells. These results demonstrate attenuated induction of aromatase activity by FSH in cultured rat granulosa cells cotreated with SOD, suggesting a potential modulatory role of this antioxidant on granulosa cell functions. The findings that SOD and activators of the cAMP-dependent signaling pathway synergistically increase the levels of the second messenger cGMP and that (Bu)2cGMP treatment attenuates FSH-, forskolin-, and cAMP-induced aromatase activity suggest a potential mechanism of SOD action and demonstrate the antagonist action of cGMP on cAMP-mediated estrogen production.