Stimulation of human thyroid growth via the inhibitory guanine nucleotide binding (G) protein Gi: constitutive expression of the G-protein alpha subunit Gi alpha-1 in autonomous adenoma.

The alpha subunits of the stimulatory and inhibitory G proteins, Gs alpha and Gi alpha, activate transmembrane-signaling systems involved in the control of cell proliferation. We have investigated the pattern of expression of Gi alpha subtypes and Gi alpha-mediated proliferative responses in the human thyroid. Human thyroid membranes contain two subtypes of Gi alpha, Gi alpha-1 and Gi alpha-2, as assessed by using specific antibodies. The expression of Gi alpha-1 is under tight control by thyrotropin in vivo and in primary cultures of thyroid epithelial cells. In contrast, Gi alpha-1 is expressed in the absence of thyrotropin in thyroid autonomous adenoma, an endocrine-active tumor, and its levels are not regulated by thyrotropin in thyroid epithelial cells prepared from these tumors. If thyroid epithelial cells are treated with pertussis toxin to block signal transduction via Gi, the mitogenic response to serum factors is reduced. These observations demonstrate that Gi subtypes transmit growth stimuli in the human thyroid. The constitutive expression of Gi alpha-1 in autonomous adenoma may allow for the unregulated stimulation of thyroid cell proliferation by a yet unidentified signaling pathway and, thus, be causally related to autonomous growth of thyroid cells.