Transcriptional regulation of thyroid-stimulating hormone gene expression in CHP2 human thyrotrope cell line

CHP2是最近发现的一种来源于人脑垂体前叶的克隆细胞。在本研究中，我们检测了该细胞系是否具有甲状腺营养细胞的特征。首先，我们利用RT-PCR分析了TSH相关基因的表达，结果显示，TSH α-亚基、甲状腺激素受体β2和转录因子GATA2均有表达。此外，引入CHP2细胞的TSH α-亚基基因5′-启动子-荧光素酶融合基因表现出较强的转录活性，对cAMP/蛋白激酶a有响应。另一方面，未检测到Pit-1和TSH β-亚基基因的表达，引入的TSH β-亚基基因启动子也未表现出启动子活性。综上所述，我们的研究结果表明CHP2细胞系基本具有糖蛋白激素产生细胞的特性，尽管不足以维持甲状腺功能细胞的特性。

CHP2 is a recently established clonal cell derived from human anterior pituitary gland. In this study, we examined whether this cell line has the characteristic of thyrotroph cells. First, we analyzed the TSH-related gene expression using RT-PCR, the results showing that TSH α-subunit, thyroid hormone receptor β2, and transcription factor GATA2 were shown to be expressed. Furthermore, TSH α-subunit gene 5'-promoter-luciferase fusion gene introduced into CHP2 cells showed substantial transcriptional activity, which was responsive to cAMP/protein kinase A.On the other hand, Pit-1 and TSH β-subunit gene expression was not detected, and introduced TSH β-subunit gene promoter showed no promoter activity as well. Altogether, our results suggest that CHP2 cell line basically has the property of glycoprotein hormone-producing cells, although not enough to maintain the characteristics of thyrotroph cells.