Evidence that the thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor and its ligand are recycled dissociated from each other.

We have examined the trafficking of the thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor (TRHR) and its ligand, after TRHR-TRH internalization in rat pituitary GH4C1 cells. After rapid ligand-induced receptor sequestration, the cell surface receptor pool was replenished. Replenishment was insensitive to inhibition of protein synthesis and was dependent on the duration of internalization; therefore, the replenished receptors were not newly synthesized but recycled. The total amount of recycled receptors decreased with increasing internalization time, resulting in only partial replenishment of the cell-surface receptor pool after prolonged incubation with ligand. Thus, in addition to a receptor recycling pathway, a non-cycling route exists for TRHR sorting; this route became dominant with increasing internalization periods. TRHR entry into these pathways was not determined by the affinity of the receptor-ligand interaction, because the extent of receptor recycling was similar after TRH- and methyl-TRH (MeTRH)-induced internalization. Unlike results with the TRHR, the TRH recycling pool was not depleted by the noncycling pathway. After multiple rounds of [3H]MeTRH internalization, the amount of cell-associated radioactivity increased with increasing internalization time due to accumulation of the ligand or its metabolites in a non-cycling pathway, but the absolute amount of recycled ligand remained constant after short or long internalization times. The difference in the proportion of TRHR and MeTRH that were diverted into a noncycling pathway indicated intracellular dissociation of the internalized TRHR-TRH complex. Dissociation of the internalized TRHR-TRH complex was dependent on the acidic pH in an intracellular compartment. Although extracellular acidic pH did not enhance cell-surface receptor-ligand (RL) dissociation, bafilomycin A1 inhibited both receptor and ligand recycling. We conclude that the TRHR-TRH system is unique among recycling receptors because, after RL sequestration, the TRHR-TRH complex becomes dissociated intracellularly via a bafilomycin A1-sensitive, acidic pH-dependent mechanism, and both the unoccupied TRHR and TRH recycle disassociated from each other.

Protein phosphatase inhibitors and bone resorption: inhibition by okadaic acid and biphasic actions of calyculin-A.

PTH receptors on osteoblasts and calcitonin receptors on osteoclasts are coupled to adenylate cyclase. Despite similar transduction mechanisms, these hormones have opposing physiological actions. We investigated the consequences of persistent protein phosphorylation on bone resorption in neonatal mouse calvariae using okadaic acid (OA) and calyculin-A, two inhibitors of protein phosphatase-1 and -2A. These two inhibitors caused different responses in bone at picomolar and low nanomolar concentrations. OA inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, bone resorption stimulated by PTH, 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3, phorbol ester, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). OA did not inhibit the generation of the second messengers cAMP or PGs and did not have nonspecific toxic effects, as measured by protein and RNA synthesis. Thus, OA appeared to mimic the global inhibitory action of calcitonin on bone resorption. Unlike OA, calyculin-A elicited a biphasic dose response. At concentrations of 3.3 nM and greater, calyculin-A inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, stimulated bone resorption. However, calyculin-A alone, at 0.625 and 2.5 nM, stimulated bone resorption via a PG-independent pathway. In calvariae, OA and calyculin-A increased phosphorylation of a 58- to 60-kilodalton protein. A protein of similar molecular mass was hyperphosphorylated in OA-treated ROS 17/2.8 osteoblast-like cells. We conclude that in addition to hormonal regulation of protein kinase activity, protein dephosphorylation plays a functionally important role in the modulation of bone resorption.