Endocrinology Vol. 140, No. 3 1094-1103
Copyright © 1999 by The Endocrine Society
Regulation of the Three-Dimensional Organization of Thyroid Epithelial Cells into Follicle Structures by the Matricellular Protein, Thrombospondin-1
Sylvie Pellerin,
Karine Croizet,
Rachida Rabilloud,
Jean-Jacques Feige and
Bernard Rousset
INSERM, U-369, Faculté de Médecine Lyon-RTH Laennec,
69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France; and INSERM, U-244, Département de
Biologie Moléculaire et Structurale, Commissariat à
lEnergie Atomìque-Grenoble (J.-J.F.), 38054 Grenoble
Cedex 09, France
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Prof. Bernard Rousset, INSERM U-369, Faculté de Médecine, Lyon-RTH Laennec, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France. E-mail:
u369{at}laennec.univ-lyon1.fr
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Abstract
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Thyroid epithelial cells in primary culture have the capacity to
organize into thyroid-specific three-dimensional structures, the
follicles, in response to TSH, We studied whether thrombospondin 1
(TSP1), which represents, besides thyroglobulin, the main protein
secreted by thyroid cells, could play a role in the process of
folliculogenesis.
TSH promoted follicle formation and inhibited TSP1 production. On the
contrary, the phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol
13-acetate (1100 nM) prevented TSH-induced follicle
formation and strongly increased the synthesis of TSP1. Activation of
TSP1 synthesis was dependent upon messenger RNA synthesis. Transforming
growth factor-ß, like 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol
13-acetate, increased TSP1 synthesis and prevented TSH-induced follicle
formation. Thus, signaling molecules that depressed or conversely
activated TSP1 production, respectively promoted or prevented thyroid
folliculogenesis.
TSP1, purified from platelets, was devoid of effect on cell substratum
attachment, but exerted a concentration-dependent inhibition of the
TSH-activated reconstitution of thyroid follicles (half-inhibition at
40 µg/ml). TSP1 exhibited the same effect when added to thyroid cell
aggregates representing primitive follicle structures.
Our data suggest that the control of thyroid follicle formation may
operate at least in part through regulation of the production of the
matricellular protein TSP1, which acts as a negative modulator of the
cell-cell adhesion process involved in thyroid follicle morphogenesis.
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Introduction
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WITHIN THE intact gland, thyroid epithelial
cells or thyrocytes are organized as spherical structures named
follicles. Thyroid follicles are composed of a single layer of
polarized cells surrounding a closed compartment, the follicle lumen.
The follicular structure is required for the synthesis and secretion of
thyroid hormones. Primary culture of porcine thyrocytes in tissue
culture petri dishes provides one of the most appropriate and simplest
cell systems to study the cellular and molecular events governing
thyroid histiotypic morphogenesis or folliculogenesis. In the presence
of TSH, freshly isolated cells reassociate into three-dimensional
follicular structures (1, 2, 3) in which cells have the correct polarity
(3, 4, 5) and delimit a tight lumenal compartment (6). In vitro
reconstituted thyroid follicles (RTF) present the structural as well as
the functional properties of intact follicles (2, 5, 6, 7). The mechanisms
involved in follicle morphogenesis are far from being elucidated. TSH,
which promotes follicle formation by activating the cAMP cascade,
probably acts at different levels; it increases cell-cell adhesion and
the formation of cell aggregates, on the one hand, and inhibits cell
spreading and the intrinsic locomotility of thyroid cells once
organized as follicles, on the other hand (8, 9, 10). The targets on which
TSH exerts its regulatory actions are not known. In many organs, there
is an increasing body of evidence that extracellular matrix
glycoproteins can play key roles in the regulation of shape, adhesion,
and migration of cells. Thyroid cells in primary culture secrete
extracellular matrix proteins such as fibronectin (11), heparan sulfate
proteoglycans (12), type IV collagen (13), thrombospondin (TSP) (14),
and merosin, a variant of laminin (15). Little is known about the
hormonal regulation of the synthesis and secretion of these proteins by
thyroid cells. The secretion of proteoglycans was reported to be
increased by TSH (16), and that of TSP was either not modified (14) or
inhibited by TSH (17). As TSP appears to be secreted in high amounts by
pig thyrocytes in primary culture (14, 17, 18), we decided to analyze
its potential involvement in thyroid folliculogenesis.
TSP is a large trimeric glycoprotein; it was originally identified as a
component of
-granules in human platelets and was later found to be
produced by a variety of cells in culture (19). Each TSP subunit has a
molecular mass of about 180 kDa. TSP influences multiple biological
processes such as cell attachment, migration, and proliferation as well
as angiogenesis and neurogenesis (20). More recently, it has been shown
that TSP belongs to a family of five secreted calcium-binding
glycoproteins (21, 22). TSP was then renamed TSP1; the other members of
the family were TSP2, TSP3, TSP4, and COMP. TSP1 and TSP2 are both
homotrimeric, and their multimodular subunits contain an N-terminal
heparin-binding domain, a procollagen homology domain, three type I
repeats, three type II repeats, seven type III repeats (calcium-binding
sites), and a C-terminal globular domain. TSP3, TSP4, and COMP are
pentameric, and their subunits lack the procollagen and type I domains
present in TSP1 and TSP2. TSPs possess multiple types of cell surface
receptors that recognize discrete domains of the molecule. The
specificity of their function on a given cell type thus seems to be
dictated by the combinatorial arrangement of available cell surface
receptors (23). In the present study, we first determined to which
member of the family TSP secreted by thyrocytes corresponds. We then
studied how signaling molecules that influence the in vitro
reconstitution of thyroid follicles or alter the structural integrity
of preformed follicles act on the synthesis and secretion of TSP. The
resulting data led us to conduct a direct analysis of the effects of
purified TSP1 on the ability of thyroid epithelial cells to reorganize
into three-dimensional follicle structures.
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Materials and Methods
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Materials
Bovine TSH (2 U/mg), 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol
13-acetate (TPA), and 5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole riboside (DRB) were
obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). Human
transforming growth factor-beta]1 (TGFß1) was purchased from R & D Systems (Minneapolis, MN). The mouse monoclonal anti-TSP1
antibody (A6.1) was obtained from Boehringer Mannheim (Indianapolis,
IN). Rabbit polyclonal anti-TSP2 antibodies were used in previous
studies (24). [35S]Methionine (Tran35S-Label;
1100 Ci/mmol) was purchased from ICN Biomedicals, Inc.
(Costa Mesa, CA). Biotinylated donkey antirabbit IgG antibodies,
streptavidin conjugated to alkaline phosphatase, and
fluorescein-labeled sheep antimouse IgG antibodies were obtained from
Amersham (Arlington Heights, IL).
Cell culture
Thyroid cells were isolated from pig thyroid glands by
discontinuous trypsin treatment (25). The dissociation procedure
resulted in a cell suspension composed of isolated cells and clusters
of few cells. Cells were cultured in tissue culture-treated petri
dishes in Hams F-12 medium supplemented with 10% calf serum in the
absence or presence of TSH (1 mU/ml), to obtain thyroid cell monolayers
or RTF, respectively, as previously reported (5, 6, 26). Cells were
seeded at a high density of 0.5 x 106
cells/cm2 and cultured at 37 C in an air-CO2
(95/5%) atmosphere for 35 days.
To assess TSP secretion, cultured cells were washed and preincubated in
serum-free Hams F-12 medium for 2 h. Then the medium was
replaced with fresh serum-free medium containing TSH, TPA, or growth
factors. Culture media were collected after 224 h for subsequent
analyses.
Gel electrophoresis and Western blot
Proteins present in culture media were precipitated by addition
of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) to a final concentration of 10%
(wt/vol). After centrifugation at 10,000 x g, the pellets
were solubilized in Laemmlis sample buffer, and proteins were
separated by SDS-PAGE (on 6% gels). Molecular mass markers, including
myosin (Mr, 200,000), phosphorylase b
(Mr, 97,400), BSA (Mr,
68,000), ovalbumin (Mr, 43,000), and carbonic
anhydrase (Mr, 29,000) from Sigma Chemical Co. or Life Technologies (Gaithersburg, MD) were
run on a parallel lane. Purified human TSP1 and bovine
corticotropin-induced secreted protein/TSP2 (24) were used as internal
references. Proteins were either stained with Coomassie blue or
electrophoretically transferred onto nitrocellulose sheets for Western
blotting.
After the transfer, the nitrocellulose sheets were preincubated for
1 h in PBS containing 0.05% Tween-20 (PBS/Tween) and incubated
with rabbit polyclonal antibovine TSP2 antibodies (diluted to 1/1000 in
PBS/Tween) or the anti-TSP1 mouse monoclonal antibody A6.1 (diluted to
1/2200 in PBS/Tween) for 1 h at room temperature. Antigen-antibody
complexes were detected using biotinylated antirabbit IgG or antimouse
IgG antibodies, streptavidin conjugated to alkaline phosphatase and
bromochloroindolyl phosphate/nitroblue tetrazolium as substrate.
Metabolic labeling with
[35S]methionine and
immunoprecipitation
Cells cultured in Hams F-12 medium supplemented with 10% calf
serum with or without 1 mU/ml TSH for 3 days were washed and then
incubated in the same medium without serum in the absence or presence
of TSH, TPA, or TGFß for various periods of time. During the last
2 h of the incubation period, cells were placed in a
methionine-free medium containing [35S]methionine (50
µCi/ml). The medium was then collected and centrifuged at 15,000
x g for 10 min to remove cell debris.
Radiolabeled media (1 ml) were incubated for 30 min at 4 C in the
presence of nonimmune rabbit serum at a final concentration of 2% and
with 50 µl of a 50% (vol/vol) suspension of protein A-Sepharose
CL-4B and centrifuged at 10,000 x g for 5 min. The
supernatants were incubated with 1 µg/ml anti-TSP1 monoclonal IgG for
1 h at 4 C. Then, 50 µl of the protein A-Sepharose suspension
were added, and after a 30-min incubation at 4 C, the beads were washed
three times by centrifugation at 10,000 x g for 5 min
and resuspension in 150 mM NaCl, 1.0% Nonidet P-40, 0.5%
sodium deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS, 50 mM Tris (pH 8.0) and
once with 0.1% SDS. Proteins bound to protein A-Sepharose beads
were released by boiling in Laemmlis sample buffer and fractionated
by SDS-PAGE. Radiolabeled proteins were visualized by fluorography.
Immunofluorescence and video microscopy
Cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS for 30 min at
room temperature and permeabilized with 0.05% Triton X-100 in PBS for
30 min. After washing in PBS-BSA, fixed and permeabilized cells were
incubated with the monoclonal anti-TSP1 antibody (10 µg/ml) or normal
mouse serum at a 1:50 dilution in PBS-BSA overnight at 4 C. Immune
complexes were detected using a sheep antimouse IgG antibody conjugated
to fluorescein. Observations were made using a Zeiss Axiophot
fluorescence microscope (Zeiss, New York, NY). Fluorescence images
taken with a silicon intensified target video camera (Lhesa, Cergy
Pontoise, France) were numerized using the Crystal Sapphire image
processor from Quantel (Montigny le Bretonneux, France).
Photomicrographs were obtained using a UP-5000 P video printer from
Sony (Tokyo, Japan).
Phase contrast images of cells cultured in different conditions were
made on a Zeiss Axiovert 35M inverted microscope using either a 24
x 36 Contax camera or a CCD video camera coupled to the image
processor and the video printer mentioned above. For quantitative
analysis of the formation of follicles, images of microscope fields
(using the objective x5) taken at random were numerized and stored on
35-megabyte Bernoulli boxes (Iomega Corp., Roy, UT). Follicles
were counted on the monitor screen; under basal culture conditions,
there were about 100 follicles/field.
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Results
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In vitro reconstitution of thyroid follicles: opposite effects of
TSH and TPA
Pig thyroid cells seeded at high density (0.5 x
106 cells/cm2) and cultured in the presence of
1 mU/ml TSH from the outset of culture formed three-dimensional
follicle structures (Fig. 1B
) exhibiting
an internal cavity, the follicle lumen. The tightness of the lumen of
in vitro RTF has been demonstrated by microinjection of
fluorescent molecules (6). The organization of thyroid cells into
follicles was clearly visible after 23 days. The size of the follicle
structures increased with the time of culture; this was mostly due to
the enlargement of the lumen. In the absence of TSH, thyroid cells
formed monolayers (Fig. 1A
), which gave rise to domes after 45 days
in culture (27). The presence of serum was required for cell adhesion.
Serum could be removed after 24 h of culture without any
detectable change in the morphology of either monolayer cells or RTF
for up to 5 days. Addition of 0.1 µM TPA at the time of
seeding did not modify cell-substrate adhesion, but accelerated the
establishment of the cell monolayer (Fig. 1C
). In contrast, 0.1
µM TPA completely inhibited the TSH-induced formation of
RTF (Fig. 1D
).

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Figure 1. Actions of TSH and TPA on the reconstitution of
thyroid follicles from isolated pig thyroid cells (AD) and on the
maintenance of the structural integrity of performed follicles (EH).
Freshly isolated pig thyroid cells were seeded at a density of 0.5
x 106 cells/cm2 in Hams F-12 medium and 10%
serum and cultured for 3 days without addition (A) or with 1 mU/ml TSH
(B), 0.1 µM TPA (C), or 1 mU/ml TSH and 0.1
µM TPA (D) from the outset of culture. TSH induced the
reconstitution of thyroid follicles (RTF). TPA prevented TSH-dependent
follicle formation. RTF obtained after 3 days of culture in the
presence of TSH (condition B) were further cultured in the basal medium
(without TSH; E) or in the presence of TSH (F), TPA (G), or TSH plus
TPA (H) for 8 h. TSH withdrawal induced the involution of follicle
lumena and a progressive disappearance of follicle structures. TPA in
both the absence and presence of TSH caused a rapid disassembly of RTF
and the formation of a confluent monolayer. Phase contrast images were
taken with the objective x32. Bar, 50 µm.
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Once formed, RTF required the presence of TSH to maintain their
structural integrity. The deprivation of TSH on day 3 caused the
involution of the follicle lumena (compare Fig. 1
, E and F) and a total
disappearance of RTF after 24 h leading to a cell monolayer.
Addition of 0.1 µM TPA to 3-day-old RTF induced within
610 h the total disruption of preformed RTF and the development of a
continuous cell monolayer. TPA exerted the same action regardless of
the presence or absence of TSH (Fig. 1
, G and H).
Protein secretion by RTF: differential actions of TSH and
TPA
We investigated whether modifications of thyroid cell organization
in response to TSH or TPA treatments were accompanied by changes in
protein secretion, i.e. protein composition of culture
medium. Preformed RTF (resulting from thyroid cells cultured for 3 days
in the presence of TSH) were placed in serum-free medium and incubated
without or with TSH or TPA for 24 h. Coomassie blue-stained
proteins from culture medium fractionated by SDS-PAGE under reducing
conditions are presented in Fig. 2A
. One
major band migrating at the top of the gel was present in all cases; it
corresponded to the monomer of thyroglobulin, the thyroid hormone
precursor protein. When RTF were incubated in the presence of TPA, a
second band migrating as a 180-kDa protein was easily identifiable. The
size of this protein was consistent with that of TSP described in
thyrocyte-conditioned medium by Prabarakan et al. (14) and
Bellon et al. (17). To identify this protein as a TSP and to
determine whether it corresponded to TSP1 or TSP2, we performed Western
blot analyses using a monoclonal antibody (A61) recognizing the type
II repeats of human TSP1 or a rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against
bovine TSP2 (24). The anti-TSP1 antibody strongly labeled the 180-kDa
band in the culture medium from TPA-treated RTF. The labeled protein
had the same mobility as authentic TSP1 purified from human platelets
(Fig. 2A
). The anti-TSP1 antibody also detected TSP1 in medium in which
the 180-kDa band was not visible after Coomassie blue staining. The
amount of medium immunoreactive TSP1 was decreased in response to TSH
and strongly increased in response to TPA. Anti-TSP2 antibodies that
specifically labeled purified TSP2 (used as a positive control) did not
detect any band in RTF-conditioned media.

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Figure 2. Pig thyroid cells in primary culture synthesize
and secrete TSP1, but not TSP2. Differential regulation of TSP1
production by TSH and TPA. A, After 3 days of culture, RTF (26 x
106 cells in 10 cm-petri dishes) were washed and further
cultured in serum-free Hams F-12 medium without or with 1 mU/ml TSH
or 0.1 µM TPA for 24 h. Proteins from 4 ml (of 10)
culture medium were TCA precipitated and separated by SDS-PAGE on 6%
gels under reducing conditions and either stained with Coomassie blue
(left panel) or transferred on nitrocellulose for
Western blotting using the mouse monoclonal anti-TSP1 antibody (A6.1;
central panel) or rabbit polyclonal anti-TSP2 antibodies
(right panel). Human TSP1 and bovine TSP2 ( 4 µg
each) were used as internal references. B, Three-day-old RTF were
cultured in serum-free medium without or with 0.1 µM TPA
for 24 h. Metabolic labeling with [35S]methionine
(50 µCi/ml) was performed during the last 2 h of culture.
Proteins from culture media were analyzed as described in A and
visualized after Coomassie blue staining (left panel) or
by autoradiography (central panel). Alternatively,
radiolabeled TSP1 was immunoprecipitated from the culture medium as
described in Materials and Methods and analyzed by
SDS-PAGE and autoradiography right panel. In both A and
B, the positions and sizes of the molecular mass standards are
indicated on the left. Arrowheads
identify TSP1.
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Metabolic labeling of RTF with [35S]methionine showed 1)
that TSP1 was actually synthesized and secreted by thyroid cells, and
2) that TPA was a potent inducer of TSP synthesis (Fig. 2B
). De
novo synthesized TSP1 was identified in the culture media after
immunoprecipitation, but was also easily detectable after a simple TCA
precipitation. Two other components, the thyroglobulin monomer
migrating as a 280-kDa protein (28) and an unidentified protein of
100110 kDa, were also detected as neosynthesized
35S-labeled proteins in TCA precipitates. TPA markedly
reduced medium 35S-labeled thyroglobulin.
35S-Labeled TSP1 was barely detectable in cell lysates
(data not shown); intracellular neosynthesized TSP1 represented a small
fraction of the total neosynthesized TSP1. Thus, medium TSP1
measurements gave a good account of TSP1 production.
The data presented in Fig. 3A
show the
time-dependent changes in TSP1 synthesis when RTF cultured in complete
medium (Hams F-12 medium, 10% calf serum, and 1 mU/ml TSH) were
exposed to serum-free Hams F-12 medium (none) or serum-free Hams
F-12 medium supplemented with either TSH (1 mU/ml) or TPA (0.1
µM). First, it must be noticed that the replacement of
complete medium with serum-free medium led to an increase in the
rate of TSP1 synthesis; this change could due in part to the removal of
serum and in part to the withdrawal of TSH. Indeed, the rate of TSP1
synthesis by RTF was significantly reduced when TSH was added to the
serum-free medium. These observations indicate that serum probably
contains factors affecting TSP1 production and that in normal culture
conditions of RTF, the presence of serum could contribute, together
with TSH, to a lowering of TSP1 production. The inhibitory effect of
TSH on TSP1 synthesis was apparent after 6 h. Addition of TPA
caused a rapid increase (within 4 h) of the rate of TSP1
synthesis. The inhibitory effect of TSH was maximum at a concentration
of 1 mU/ml (Fig. 3B
), which corresponded to the hormone concentration
normally used to obtain the reconstitution of thyroid follicles. The
effect of TSH (1 mU/ml) was reproduced by the dibutyryl derivative of
cAMP (1 mM; result not shown). TPA exerted a
concentration-dependent activation between 1100 nM. At
the maximum, TPA caused a 2-fold increase and TSH caused a 2-fold
decrease in the rate of TSP1 synthesis. The TPA-induced increase in
TSP1 production by RTF required messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis; it was
inhibited more than 90% by DRB, an inhibitor of RNA polymerases (29)
(Fig. 4
). This is consistent with a TSP1
mRNA half-life of about 3 h (30).

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Figure 3. Regulation of TSP1 synthesis by TSH and TPA. A,
Time-dependent variations in the rate of TSP1 synthesis by RTF in
response to TSH and TPA. After 3 days of culture in Hams F-12 medium
supplemented with 10% serum and 1 mU/ml TSH, RTF were washed and
incubated in serum-free medium (none) or in serum-free medium
supplemented with 1 mU/ml TSH or 0.1 µM TPA for the
indicated periods of time. The rate of TSP1 synthesis was assessed by
the addition of [35S]methionine during the last 2 h
of incubation. Medium proteins were TCA precipitated and separated by
SDS-PAGE on 6% gels under reducing conditions. 35S-Labeled
proteins were visualized by autoradiography. Only the part of the
autoradiograms corresponding to the 35S-labeled TSP1 bands
are shown in the upper panel. The results of the
densitometric analyses, expressed in arbitrary units (a.u.), are
presented in the lower panel. B, Effects of increasing
concentrations of TSH and TPA on the rate of TSP1 synthesis by RTF.
Experimental conditions were the same as in A. The duration of
incubation was 15 h. Medium proteins were analyzed as described in
A. 35S-Labeled TSP1 bands corresponding to TPA- or
TSH-treated RTF are presented above andbelow the diagram that gives the results of the densitometric
analyses of the corresponding autoradiograms.
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Figure 4. Activation of TSP1 synthesis by TPA is blocked by
inhibition of mRNA synthesis. After 3 days of culture, RTF were washed
and incubated in the serum-free medium in the absence or presence of
0.1 µM TPA without (control; CTL) or with DRB (50
µg/ml) for 6 h. [35S]Methionine was added during
the last 2 h of incubation. Medium proteins were analyzed as
described in Fig. 3 . The autoradiogram and data of the densitometric
analysis are given on the left and right,
respectively.
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The increase in TSP1 synthesis in response to TPA could be visualized
by immunofluorescence staining using the monoclonal anti-TSP1 antibody
(Fig. 5
). After 8 h of TPA
treatment, RTF were disassembled, and the resulting cell monolayer
(Fig. 5
, C and D) was strongly TSP1 positive. Immunoreactive TSP1 was
located in vesicular structures and intracellular compartments,
probably corresponding to secretory compartments. In some regions of
the petri dishes where cell density was higher, we could observe
fluorescent deposits between cells (data not shown). Contrary to
TPA-treated cells, cells in the form of RTF were not or were only
slightly labeled (Fig. 5A
).

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Figure 5. Immunofluorescence detection of TSP1 in
TPA-treated thyroid cells. Thyroid cells were cultured in Hams F-12
medium supplemented with 10% serum and 1 mU/ml TSH for 3 days to
obtain RTF. RTF were then washed and further cultured in serum-free
medium without (A) or with 0.1 µM TPA (BD) for 8 h
(B and C) or 24 h (A and D). After fixation and permeabilization,
cells were stained using the monoclonal anti-TSP1 antibody (A, C, and
D) or normal mouse IgG (B) as described in Materials and
Methods. No TSP1 immunoreactivity was detected in thyroid cells
organized in follicles (A). In contrast, monolayer cells derived from
RTF after 8 (C) or 24 h (D) of TPA treatment were strongly TSP1
positive. Bar, 25 µm.
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Effects of TGFß on TSP1 secretion and on the reconstitution of
thyroid follicles
The observation of an up-regulation of TSP1 synthesis by TGFß on
bovine adrenocortical cells (31) prompted us to investigate whether
this factor could regulate TSP1 secretion and the formation of
follicles by thyroid cells. The data reported in Fig. 6
demonstrate that TGFß1 actually
stimulated TSP1 synthesis and secretion. Three-day-old RTF incubated in
the presence of TGFß1 (10 ng/ml) for 24 h exhibited a higher
rate of TSP1 synthesis than untreated cells regardless of the presence
or absence of TSH. The TGFß1-induced activation of TSP1 synthesis was
concentration dependent; a 2-fold increase was obtained at a
concentration of 510 ng/ml. Phase contrast images in Fig. 7
show that TGFß1 (10 ng/ml) added at
the outset of culture prevented TSH-dependent folliculogenesis. The
adverse effects of TGFß1 were clearly apparent after 12 days of
culture (Fig. 7
, A and C); TGFß1-treated cells did not form the cell
aggregates that correspond to prefollicle structures. On day 4 in the
absence of TGFß1, cells were mostly organized as follicles (Fig. 7B
)
whereas in the presence of TGFß1, they formed a confluent monolayer
(Fig. 7D
).

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Figure 6. TGFß1 activates TSP1 synthesis by thyroid cells.
A, Thyroid cells were cultured in Hams F-12 medium supplemented with
10% serum and 1 mU/ml TSH for 3 days and incubated in serum-free
medium for 24 h in the absence or presence of TSH (1 mU/ml) with
or without 10 ng/ml TGFß1. [35S]Methionine was added
during the last 3 h of culture. Medium 35S-Labeled
proteins were analyzed by SDS-PAGE on a 6% gel and autoradiography
after TCA precipitation. The arrow indicates the
position of TSP1. The positions and sizes of molecular mass standards
are given on the left. B, Cells cultured as described in
A were incubated in serum-free medium containing increasing
concentrations of TGFß1 for 24 h and metabolically labeled with
[35S]methionine during the last 3 h. Medium proteins
were analyzed as described in A. The part of the gel corresponding to
35S-labeled TSP1 is presented on the top of
the diagram, giving the results of the densitometric analysis.
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Figure 7. Effect of TGFß1 on the TSH-activated follicle
formation. Thyroid cells seeded at 0.5 x 106
cells/cm2 were cultured in Hams F-12 medium containing
10% serum and 1 mU/ml TSH in the absence (A and B) or presence (C and
D) of 10 ng/ml TGFß1. Phase contrast micrographs were taken after 2
days (A and C) and 4 days (B and D) of culture. Bar, 50
µm.
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TSP1 inhibits the TSH-dependent formation of thyroid
follicles
TSP1, purified from platelets, was added to the culture medium of
thyroid cells seeded under conditions leading to RTF formation (high
cell density and presence of TSH). After 3 days of culture in control
conditions, most of the cells were involved in the formation of
follicles (Fig. 8A
). Cells cultured in
the presence of TSP1 at concentrations up to 25 µg/ml were also
organized in follicles; however, the proportion of cells at the
periphery of RTF not participating in follicle organization
progressively increased with TSP1 concentration (Fig. 8
, BD). In
addition, the size of the follicle lumena was smaller as the TSP1
concentration increased. At a concentration of 50 µg/ml, the number
of follicles was markedly reduced, and the remaining follicles appeared
to be formed from a few cells and had a very small lumen (Fig. 8E
); the
majority of cells spread on the culture substratum. There was no
follicle structure when cells were cultured in the presence of 100
µg/ml TSP1 (Fig. 8F
). The inhibitory effect of TSP1 on
folliculogenesis was assessed by counting follicles (whatever their
size) on microscope fields taken at random in each experimental
condition. The results are presented in Fig. 9
. The TSP1 concentration that caused a
50% reduction of follicle formation was about 40 µg/ml.

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Figure 8. TSP1 prevents the TSH-activated reconstitution of
thyroid follicles. Thyroid cells seeded at 0.5 x 106
cells/cm2 were cultured in Hams F-12 medium containing
10% serum and 1 mU/ml TSH in the presence of increasing concentrations
of purified TSP1 (5100 µg/ml) for 3 days. TSP1 was added at the
outset of culture. The phase contrast micrographs correspond to
representative microscope fields of cells cultured in the presence of
TSP1 at the following concentrations: A, 0 µg/ml; B, 5 µg/ml; C, 10
µg/ml; D, 25 µg/ml; E, 50 µg/ml; and F, 100 µg/ml.
Bar, 50 µm.
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View larger version (16K):
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Figure 9. Effect of increasing concentrations of TSP1
on TSH-activated reconstitution of thyroid follicles. Conditions are
described in Fig. 8 . Images of microscope fields (six per condition)
taken at random with the objective x5 were numerized and stored as
indicated in Materials and Methods. Then follicle
structures, whatever their size, were counted on a monitor screen.
Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM of the values
obtained on six fields. The area of a field was about 19
mm2.
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Discussion
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We report here that the matricellular protein TSP1 is a
regulatory molecule in the process governing the in vitro
reconstitution of tissue-like structures from thyroid epithelial cells.
First, exogenous TSP1 (in a purified form) added to the culture medium
of freshly isolated cells prevented their three-dimensional
reorganization into follicle structures. Second, the ability of thyroid
cells to undergo follicular morphogenesis or to keep follicular
differentiation once established appeared inversely related to their
level of TSP1 production. Third, signaling molecules that depressed
(TSH) or conversely activated (TPA, TGFß) TSP1 synthesis respectively
promoted or prevented thyroid folliculogenesis.
The in vitro thyroid follicle morphogenesis has been shown
to be dependent on two main parameters: cell density (threshold,
0.25 x 105 cells/cm2) and the presence
of a hormone, TSH. Both factors appear equally important and to act in
synergy for promoting cell-cell interactions and follicle
reconstitution; if one of these two conditions is not fulfilled, cells
spread to form a monolayer (2, 4, 32). Cell-cell adhesion and
aggregation (which is favored by increasing cell density) are essential
for folliculogenesis and represent the step at which TSH influences the
morphogenic event. Recent studies (8, 9, 10, 33) indicate that follicular
differentiation is probably determined by the balance between adverse
adhesive forces acting upon the cells: cell-cell adhesion
vs. cell-substrate adhesion. These researchers found that
TSH has no effect on the attachment and spreading of cells to the
substratum, but inhibits spreading of cells from aggregates. This
effect was documented by analyzing the cell behavior when TSH was
withdrawn from the culture medium of reconstituted follicles (33).
Removal of TSH caused established follicles to reorganize into a
confluent two-dimensional epithelioid monolayer within 24 h. The
earliest change was the appearance of cells with broad lamellipodia at
the periphery of follicular structures. These cells became locomotile
as they spread from follicles and then formed the monolayer. Thus, TSH
probably contributes to thyroid follicular differentiation by exerting
a control on cell-cell interactions within three-dimensional cell
aggregates. Manley and co-workers (8) came to the conclusion that a
TSH-sensitive cell adhesion system might be involved in thyroid
folliculogenesis. Such a system would bring into play plasma membrane
proteins forming the complex network of adhesion structures and
intercellular junctions as well as secreted proteins that could
regulate the formation and/or the stability of the adhesion
structures.
TSP1 as a secreted protein could represent one of the intervening
regulatory proteins. Indeed, TSP1 is secreted at the basolateral pole
of polarized thyroid cells (14), where it could interfere with
cell-substratum and/or cell-cell adhesion processes. TSP1 does not seem
to act on the attachment of thyroid cells to tissue culture petri
dishes. Using cell attachment and cell spreading assays (34, 35), we
have been unable to detect any effect of purified TSP1, either in a
soluble form or coated to the dish, on the ability of dispersed thyroid
cells to form a monolayer. In contrast, purified TSP1 exerted a
definite inhibitory action on the TSH-induced three-dimensional
organization of thyroid cells. The TSP1 effect was highly specific, as
it was observed at concentrations ranging from 4 x
10-8 to 2 x 10-7 M in the
presence of 10% serum, i.e. about 5 mg/ml protein. Under
the same conditions, another extracellular matrix component,
fibronectin, was devoid of effect even at higher concentrations.
Interestingly, TSP1 had the same effect when added at the outset of
culture or 24 h later when thyroid cells were in the form of
aggregates representing prefollicular structures. It is thus reasonable
to think that TSP1 could inhibit follicle formation by interacting with
and thus inactivating a protein(s) belonging to the TSH-sensitive
adhesion system mentioned above. The multimodular structure of TSP1
implies that it can trigger its biological effects through interaction
with a variety of cell surface receptors. Interaction of TSP1 with
heparin or heparan sulfate proteoglycans is a prerequisite for binding
to the low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (36).
Lipoprotein receptor-related protein is a multiligand receptor present
at the surface of numerous cell types that functions as a scavenger
receptor (37). TSP1 can also interact with CD36 through a peptide motif
located in the type I repeats. This interaction was recently shown to
mediate the antiangiogenic function of TSP1 (38). The RDG sequence
present in the seventh type III repeat of TSP1 is the putative binding
site to integrins
vß3 and
IIbß3. In addition, the C-terminal domain
of TSP1 contains a binding site to the membrane receptor CD47, also
known as integrin-associated protein (39). To date, the identity of the
receptor(s) mediating the adhesive or antiadhesive properties of TSP1
is not known precisely. The presence of CD36 or CD47 at the surface of
thyroid cells has not been reported, and data dealing with the
expression of integrins are still scarce (40). It is therefore
difficult to predict which of these receptors could mediate the
preventing effect of TSP1 on thyroid follicle formation. Future studies
using recombinant fragments of TSP1 should help to decipher the
repertoire of TSP receptors present at the surface of thyrocytes and
the signaling pathway(s) involved in the antifolliculogenic action of
TSP1.
Data dealing with the endogenous TSP1 production and its regulation
give further support to and extend the biological relevance of the
observations made with exogenous TSP1. TSH, TPA, and TGFß that
activate distinct intracellular signaling pathways were found to exert
opposite regulatory actions on TSP1 synthesis and follicular
differentiation. The relationship between down- or up-regulation of
TSP1 synthesis and induction or prevention of folliculogenesis is
sustained by different experimental data.
First, the inhibition by TSH or the activation by TPA or TGFß of TSP1
synthesis that was apparent within 46 h preceded the first detectable
effects of these agents on follicle morphogenesis. The rapid changes in
TSP1 expression are in keeping with data obtained on different cell
types showing that TSP1 mRNA levels are regulated in a manner similar
to immediate early genes (41, 42, 43).
Second, the alterations of TSP1 synthesis and follicular
differentiation in response to a given signaling molecule were obtained
within the same concentration range. TSH probably controls TSP1
synthesis through activation of the cAMP cascade; we have found that
the TSH-induced inhibition of TSP1 synthesis was reproduced by the
dibutyryl derivative of cAMP (1 mM), which mimics the
action of TSH on folliculogenesis (1). Other pituitary hormones also
regulate TSP1 synthesis in their target tissues. In ovarian granulosa
cells, FSH down-regulates TSP1 synthesis, and it has been proposed that
this phenomenon could play a role in the maturation of the tissue (44).
The involvement of TSP1 in folliculogenesis in the ovary has not been
investigated, but it may be worthwhile to examine this question in view
of our results on thyroid follicle formation. In adrenocortical cells,
TSP1 synthesis is down-regulated by ACTH, whereas TSP2 synthesis is
simultaneously increased (45). In each of these cell types, the
negative regulation of TSP1 synthesis occurs at the mRNA level and is
cAMP mediated. In the thyroid cell system, we have found that both TPA
and TGFß overcome the TSH-induced down-regulation of TSP1 and
annihilated the TSH-induced follicle formation. The phorbol ester TPA,
through the activation of protein kinase C, is known to inhibit the
differentiation of thyroid cells, including TSH-induced follicle
formation (reviewed in Ref. 46). The regulatory actions of TGFß on
thyroid cell functions are less well characterized. On pig thyroid
cells in culture, TGFß was reported to be a potent inhibitor of
iodine metabolism activated by TSH (47). We report here another
dedifferentiating effect of TGFß that was capable of inhibiting the
TSH-induced folliculogenesis. Being produced by thyroid cells (48, 49),
TGFß might represent a physiological modulator of follicle
morphogenesis.
Third, in all of the experimental situations leading to up-regulation
of TSP1 synthesis: 1) dispersed thyroid cells treated with either TPA
or TGFß (in the presence of TSH) from the outset of culture, 2)
preformed follicles treated with TPA (in the presence or absence of
TSH), and 3) preformed follicles deprived of TSH, follicle structures
were absent; either they did not form, or they disassembled.
Fourth, TSP1 has been identified by indirect immunofluorescence in
thyroid cells in the course of establishing a monolayer after addition
of TPA on preformed follicles. In contrast, TSP1 was not detectable in
thyroid cells organized into follicles. Taken altogether, these data
indicate that endogenously produced TSP1 could exert the same
inhibitory effect on folliculogenesis as exogenous TSP1. It is worth
noticing that purified TSP1, at a concentration that prevented
TSH-induced folliculogenesis, was unable to cause the conversion of
preformed follicles to a cell monolayer. Due to limitations in the
preparation of purified TSP1, we could not check the effect of
higher concentrations of TSP1. Nevertheless, this observation might
indicate that to be active, TSP1 must be secreted in the intercellular
spaces, close to the cell-cell adhesion system on which TSP1 is
expected to act; on preformed follicles, the potential site of action
of TSP1 could be far less accessible to exogenous TSP1 than to
endogenous TSP1.
When available, anti-TSP1-neutralizing antibodies will be very useful
to further analyze the functional role of TSP1 in the process of
folliculogenesis and to determine to which extent down-regulation of
TSP1 expression is a prerequisite for the formation and stability of
follicles. Finally, the present work, by exploiting the rather unique
property of polarized epithelial cells from the thyroid gland to
undergo histiotypic morphogenesis in vitro, brings new
information on the modulating effects of TSP1 on tissue
differentiation.
Received March 6, 1998.
 |
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