Effect of exogenous hydrogen peroxide on iodide transport and iodine organification in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide plays an important role in the regulation of iodination and thyroid hormone formation. In the present study, the effect of exogenous H2O2 on 125I transport and organification was investigated in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells. Less than 20 passages after subcloning, cells in 24-well plates (6 × 104 cells/well) were maintained in a thyrotropin (TSH)-containing medium (6H) for 3 days. A TSH-free medium (5H) was then used for the next 7 days. A 1-h exposure to H2O2 stimulated 125I transport and 125I organification at 0.1–0.5 mmol/l H2O2 and had a toxic effect on FRTL-5 cells at 5 mmol/l. Hydrogen peroxide (0.5 mmol/l) augmented the iodide transport and iodine organification induced by TSH (333U/l) by two- and threefold, respectively. The biphasic effect of H2O2 was blocked totally by 5–200 μg/l of catalase. Catalase by itself did not influence TSH-mediated 125I transport and 125I organification. Hydrogen peroxide (0.5 mmol/l) added to cells in 5H medium increased Na+K+-ATPase activity twofold. Ouabain (1 mmol/l), an inhibitor of Na+K +-ATPase, completely inhibited the twofold increase in 125I transport induced by 0.5 mmol/l H2O2 but only inhibited H2O2-induced 125I organification by 28%. Methimazole (1 mmol/l), an inhibitor of thyroid peroxidase, had no effect on H2O2-mediated 125I transport but totally blocked the fivefold rise in 125I organification induced by 0.5 mmol/1 H2O2. The effect of H2O2 on intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels also was studied. Hydrogen peroxide (0.5 mmol/l) decreased baseline and 160 mU/l TSH-induced cAMP levels by 35 and 87%, respectively, while a 3-h incubation with 0.5 mmol/l H2O2 increased Na + K +-ATPase in 5H and 6H media. We conclude that H2O2 plays an important role in the regulation of iodide transport and organification and also may affect signal transduction and the electrochemical gradient in thyroid cells. Our results also provide evidence that functional thyroid peroxidase activity is present in FRTL-5 cells.