Abstract

To determine if luteinizing human granulosa cells contain messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNAs) encoding insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBPs) and if cultured granulosa secrete IGFBPs into conditioned medium (CM).Northern analysis, using IGFBP-specific complementary deoxyribonucleic acid probes, was used to detect granulosa-derived IGFBP mRNAs. Western ligand blot analysis of CM was used to detect IGFBPs secreted by granulosa cultures with and without human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).Granulosa cells were obtained from the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Program at Stanford University, a private teaching institution.Patients undergoing IVF for tubal disease.None.Transcripts of IGFBP mRNA and IGFBPs secreted into CM were detected by autoradiography of Northern and Western ligand blots, respectively.Transcripts of IGFBP-3, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-1 mRNA were detected in human luteinizing granulosa. Cultured granulosa secreted IGFBPs with molecular weights corresponding to IGFBP-3, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-1, and the latter two IGFBPs increased with 10 ng/mL hCG. A 24 kd IGFBP was noted, which may be newly characterized IGFBP-4.These data show that luteinizing human granulosa cells express mRNAs encoding three IGFBPs, secrete IGFBPs into culture medium, and that production of at least two of the IGFBPs is hCG-dependent, further supporting a role for the IGF system in human folliculogenesis.

View details for Web of Science ID A1991GF40800017

View details for PubMedID 1716597