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Bovine Chromaffin Cells Release a Transforming Growth Factor‐β‐Like Molecule Contained Within Chromaffin Granules
Author(s) -
Krieglstein Kerstin,
Unsicker Klaus
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1995.65031423.x
Subject(s) - chromaffin cell , transforming growth factor beta , growth factor , nerve growth factor , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , transforming growth factor , basic fibroblast growth factor , transforming growth factor, beta 3 , endocrinology , medicine , adrenal medulla , chemistry , tgf alpha , biochemistry , catecholamine , receptor
Bovine chromaffin cells contain within their storage vesicles and release upon cholinergic stimulation a complex mixture of proteins and peptides. We present data suggesting that one of these proteins resembles transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β in terms of its biological activity. The assay used to assess the activity of TGF‐β is based on cells transfected with a plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 promoter‐luciferase construct. The assay is highly specific in detecting TGF‐β1, ‐β2, and ‐β3 but does not detect several cytokines and growth factors, such as fibroblast growth factor‐2, transforming growth factor‐α, platelet‐derived growth factor‐AB, insulin‐like growth factor‐I, or neurotrophin‐3 or ‐4. Moreover, we show that this assay does not detect a wide range of TGF‐β superfamily members (activin A, bone morphogenetic protein‐2, ‐4, ‐6, and ‐7, growth/differentiation factor‐5, and glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor). Chromaffin granules contain ∼1 ng of TGF‐β/10 mg of protein. The biological activity elicited by the chromaffin granule component can be neutralized by using an antibody against TGF‐β1/β2/β3. TGF‐β is releasable from cultured chromaffin cells stimulated with the cholinergic agonist carbachol (10 −5 M ). These data suggest that TGF‐β is stored in chromaffin granules and can be released by exocytosis.