Transmembrane Na+/H+ exchange in the rat thyroid cell strain FRTL-5: A possible role in insulin-like growth factor-I-mediated proliferation

Using the fluorescent pH indicator 2'7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5'-(6')-carboxyfluorescein to monitor intracellular pH (pH(i)), we have investigated whether transmembrane Na+/H+ exchange, as measured by experimental changes in pH(i) under bicarbonate-free incubation conditions, may be involved in the early growth-promoting actions of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) on the rat thyroid cell stain FRTL-5. In initial studies to characterize Na+/H+ exchange in FRTL-5 cell suspensions, the recovery of a resting pH(i) in acid-loaded cells was shown to be dependent upon the presence of the sodium ionophore monensin and was abolished by amiloride, an antagonist of Na+/H+ antiport activity. Unlike TSH, which was without effect on the pH(i) or FRTL-5 cells for up to 15 min after addition, IGF-I (1000 μg/l) caused a rapid and sustained increase within 3 min, which was abolished in medium in which Na+ had been replaced with an iso-osmotic level of choline chloride. The change in pH(i) in response to IGF-I was mimicked by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; 100 nmol/l), an activator of thryoid cell proliferation. In the presence of TSH, exposure of cells to IGF-I or PMA had no additional effect on the cytoplasmic alkalinization induced by either of these two agonists alone. However, blockade of transmembrane Na+/H+ exchange with amiloride inhibited both the individual actions of IGF-I and PMA on [methyl-3H]thymidine incorporation, and the synergistic interaction between TSH and IGF-I. These findings are consistent with a differential mode of action of TSH and IGF-I on the early events associated with FRTL-5 cell proliferation, and suggest involvement of an amiloride-sensitive transmembrane Na+/H+ exchange in mediating the early cellular response to the latter. Furthermore, the later actions of PMA, which are also dependent upon early transmembrane Na+/H+ exchange, differ from those of IGF-I with respect to interaction with the growth-promoting actions of TSH.