Vicki R. Sara

Insulin-like growth factors and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in cerebrospinal fluid and serum of patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type

SummaryAfter acid gelchromatography cerebrospinal fluid and serum levels of immunoreactive insulin-like growth factor 1 and 2 (IGF-1 and IGF-2) were determined in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (AD) and in healthy subjects. The AD CSF levels of immunoreactive IGF-1 did not differ from the subjects but the levels of immunoreactive IGF-2 was significantly elevated in both serum and CSF in the AD patient group. Additionally immunoreactive IGF-1 in AD serum was found to be significantly elevated. To characterize the CSF IGF binding protein activity (IGFBP), ligand blotting was performed on whole CSF from AD patients and subjects. The results demonstrate two major forms of IGFBP in CSF with approximate molecular weights of 33 KDa and 30 KDa. The two IGFBP forms are suggested to represent IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-6. A highly significant increase in both the IGFBPs was observed in the CSF of the AD patients compared to the healthy subjects.

The receptor for insulin-like growth factor II mediates an insulin-like response.

Insulin‐like growth factor II (IGF‐II) shares sequence homology and predicted three‐dimensional structure with insulin and IGF‐I. IGF‐II can bind, therefore, to a limited extent with the receptors for these two other hormones, as well as to a distinct receptor for IGF‐II. Previous studies have been unable to attribute a particular response of IGF‐II through its own receptor. In the present studies, the IGF‐II receptor is shown to mediate the stimulation of glycogen synthesis in human hepatoma cells since: (i) IGF‐II is found to be capable of stimulating a response at concentrations in which it would primarily interact with its own receptor; (ii) the response to IGF‐II was not blocked by monoclonal antibodies which inhibit the responses of cells through the insulin and IGF‐I receptors; and (iii) polyclonal antibodies to the IGF‐II receptor were found to mimic the ability of IGF‐II to stimulate glycogen synthesis. These results indicate that the IGF‐II receptor mediates a particular biological response–stimulation of glycogen synthesis in hepatoma cells. Furthermore, a monovalent Fab fragment of the polyclonal antibody to the IGF‐II receptor was also shown to stimulate glycogen synthesis in these cells. These data indicate that clustering of the IGF‐II receptor is not required to stimulate a biological response.

The expression of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor II genes in the human fetal and adult brain and in glioma

Expression of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) genes in the human brain and in glioma was studied by slot blot and Northern analysis following hybridization of IGF-I and IGF-II cDNA probes to isolated mRNA. In the fetal brain there were major IGF-I transcripts of 7.5 and 4.4 kilobases (kb) and one major IGF-II transcript of 6.0 kb. IGF-II mRNA was less abundant in the adult brain, with IGF-II mRNA being scarcely detectable. All glioma tissue examined displayed a marked enhancement of both IGF-I and IGF-II gene expression when compared to normal brain. IGF-I transcripts of 4.4 and 2.2-1.8 kb were identified. Similar to fetal brain a major IGF-II transcript of 6.0 kb was found in the glioblastoma examined.

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptors in the human brain: quantitative autoradiographic localization ☆

The distribution of Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptors in large cryosections of human brain hemispheres (80-microns) was studied by quantitative autoradiography using 125I-IGF-1 as ligand. Postmortem tissue only from individuals free from neurological diseases was used. The highest densities of IGF-1 receptors were found in the hippocampus, amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus. Intermediate densities were observed in the cerebellum, cerebral cortex and caudate nucleus, whereas low densities of IGF-1 receptors were obtained in the substantia nigra, red nucleus, white matter and cerebral pedunculus. The cartography of IGF-1 receptors in the normal human brain will hopefully be of use in the study of the alteration of these receptors in diseased brain.

Identification of Gly-Pro-Glu (GPE), the aminoterminal tripeptide of insulin-like growth factor 1 which is truncated in brain, as a novel neuroactive peptide

A truncated form of IGF-1 which lacks the aminoterminal tripeptide Gly-Pro-Glu (GPE) is found in human brain. It was proposed that GPE may result from neural specific processing and also have a function within the CNS. GPE was synthesized and shown to inhibit glutamate binding to the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Whilst the carboxyterminal glutamate was necessary for NMDA receptor binding, the aminoterminal glycine potentiated receptor crossreaction. Furthermore, GPE had a potent stimulatory effect on the potassium induced release of acetylcholine from rat cortical slices. A less potent stimulation of dopamine release from striatum was also observed. The specific competitive NMDA receptor antagonist, (+/-)2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoate (AP7), inhibited the action of GPE on dopamine but not on acetylcholine release. These studies have identified GPE as a novel neuroactive peptide with a potent action on acetylcholine release and support the general concept that the proteolytic products of the IGF-1 precursor play a role in the regulation of brain function.

A comparison of the biological activity of the recombinant intact and truncated insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)

A truncated form of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which lacked the aminoterminal tripeptide Gly-Pro-Glu has been isolated from human fetal and adult brain. This truncated IGF-1 displayed more potent cross-reactivity and biological action on brain cells than IGF-1 isolated from human serum. We now present data on a recombinant DNA-derived truncated IGF-1 lacking the aminoterminal tripeptide. Recombinant truncated IGF-1 was 1.4-5-times more potent than recombinant and natural IGF-1 in displacing [125 I]IGF-1 from human fetal and adult brain and placenta membranes. These differences were slightly enhanced when truncated IGF-1 was used as radioligand. The relative potencies compared to insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) in displacing [125I]IGF-2 from rat liver membranes were recombinant truncated IGF-1, 0.3% and recombinant IGF-1, 0.2%. Recombinant truncated IGF-1 displayed 100-fold reduced affinity for the low molecular weight binding protein (IGF-BP) isolated from human amniotic fluid when compared to recombinant IGF-1. Likewise, the IGF-BP was 100-fold less potent in inhibiting the receptor binding of recombinant truncated IGF-1 than that of recombinant IGF-1. Recombinant truncated IGF-1 was 4-times more potent than recombinant and natural IGF-1 in stimulating DNA synthesis in fetal rat brain cells. This biological activity of recombinant truncated IGF-1 was not affected by the IGF-BP at concentrations which abolished the biological activity of recombinant IGF-1. The hypothesis that IGF-BP bound intact IGF-1 represents the endocrine form of IGF-1, whereas truncated IGF-1 represents the paracrine or autocrine form of IGF-1, is proposed.

Insulin-like growth factor 1 stimulates the release of acetylcholine from rat cortical slices.

The effect of somatomedin, or insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1 and IGF-2), on the basal and potassium induced release of [3H]acetylcholine ([3H]Ach) from rat cortical slices, previously preincubated with [3H]choline ([3H]Ch), was studied in vitro. IGF-1 (1.4 x 10(-9) to 1.4 x 10(-8) M) had no effect on the basal release of [3H]ACh, while IGF-1 (1.4 x 10(-9) to 4.3 x 10(-8) M) increased the potassium induced release of [3H]ACh from rat brain slices in a concentration-dependent manner. However IGF-2 (1.4 x 10(-8) M) had no effect. Insulin (1.8 x 10(-8) to 5.3 x 10(-8) M), similarly, did not have any influence on the release of [3H]ACh, demonstrating that the facilitatory effect of IGF-1 on [3H]ACh release is not mediated via insulin receptors. This report demonstrates for the first time that IGF-1 has an effect on neurotransmission in the adult brain.

Isolation and characterization of variant IGF-1 as well as IGF-2 from adult human brain

The forms of somatomedin present in the adult human brain have been characterized in this study. Two peptides were purified by acidification, size exclusion chromatography, affinity chromatography, FPLC and HPLC. structural analysis identified these peptides as the variant form of IGF‐1 with a truncated N‐terminal region earlier isolated from human fetal brain and IGF‐2. The presence of the truncated IGF‐1 variant and IGF‐2 in the human CNS suggests their role as neuropeptides.

Increase of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, IGF binding protein-2 and −4 mRNAs following cerebral contusion

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system has a role in repair following hypoxic-ischemic injury in many tissues including the brain. To study the involvement of the IGF system following head trauma, we used a rat contusion model, which produces a focal lesion of the cerebral cortex. Molecules in the IGF system were analyzed using in situ hybridization at different times following impact. We observed a dramatic up-regulation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) mRNA in cortical areas adjacent to the injury 24 h after impact, with a peak 10-fold increase engaging most of the ipsilateral cortex 2 and 3 days post-contusion. Seven days after the contusion, IGFBP-2 expression was only moderately up-regulated and again concentrated around the injury. IGFBP-4 mRNA levels increased 4-fold ipsilateral to the site of injury, with retained pattern of cortical expression. IGFBP-3, IGFBP-5 and IGFBP-6 mRNA all displayed distinct expression patterns in the brain but no significant changes were observed following injury. In contrast, IGF-1 mRNA levels were very low prior to contusion, but increased markedly at the site of injury with a peak at day 3. We were unable to detect any changes in the type 1 IGF-receptor or IGF-2 mRNA following contusion. The neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK) mRNA was clearly up-regulated following contusion, with an even distribution over the ipsilateral cortex. The expression pattern of molecules in the IGF system post-contusion differs in part to changes observed following hypoxic-ischemia or ischemia alone, perhaps reflecting different regulatory mechanisms depending on the type of injury.

The role of the insulin-like growth factors in the regulation of brain development

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of the somatomedins or insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) in the regulation of brain development. These growth promoting peptide hormones are recently characterized in the brain, where they are produced as paracrine hormones and regulate cell proliferation and hypertrophic growth. The IGFs were first implicated in the regulation of brain growth with the hypothesis of a brain growth factor whose production could be stimulated by growth hormone. In simple terms, cellular growth occurs initially as the rapid proliferation of undifferentiated cells. In all species, the critical period of brain growth occurs during the early stages of development. The hormones that regulate the growth of the brain are gradually being identified. The IGFs are paracrine hormones produced in the nervous system throughout life. The IGFs have a potent growth-promoting action on neural tissues and are proposed to be major growth-regulating hormones for the central nervous system.