Morphological and functional differentiation of human thyroid cells in collagen gel culture.

In order to study the expression of the morphological and functional characteristics of human thyroid cells, 3-dimensional cultures were carried out in collagen gel. This substrate allows the cells to retain their organization in follicles with a normal polarity. Cellular polarities appeared normal at the time of collagen embedding, but there was a delay of 4-5 days in culture before the maximal TSH stimulation of 125I- uptake and of cAMP accumulation occurred.

[Stimulation of adenyl cyclase and fixation of iodine in human cancerous thyroid cells in culture].

In primary cultures of cells from human thyroid cancer, functional activity was investigated by adenylate cyclase responsiveness and radioiodine uptake. In cells from well-differentiated follicular carcinomas (2 cases), TSH stimulation of cAMP accumulation is similar to that of normal thyroid cells. In contrast, in papillary carcinomas (11 cases), the mean dose-response curve is much lower than normal.

[Collagen gel culture of human thyroid cancers].

When seeded on collagen gel surface, human thyroid cells from normal tissue or carcinoma form a monolayer. When the isolated cells are embedded inside the collagen gel, they reorganize into three-dimensional structures. The cells isolated from normal tissue, adenoma, or well-differentiated follicular carcinoma show the typical arrangement of follicular thyroid cells: the apical poles, characterized by microvilli, are oriented towards the follicular lumen; intercellular junctions are present.

Thyrotrophin stimulation of adenylate cyclase and iodine uptake in human differentiated thyroid cancer.

TSH stimulation of adenylate cyclase (AC) and iodine uptake was compared in 39 surgical specimens of primary tumours and/or lymph node metastases from 29 human differentiated thyroid carcinomas. TSH stimulation of AC was significantly lower (2.1 +/- 0.

Human thyroid cancer: membrane thyrotropin binding and adenylate cyclase activity.

To characterize the relationship of the TSH receptor-adenylate cyclase system to differentiation in human thyroid cancers, adenylate cyclase and TSH binding were studied in membranes from primary and metastatis thyroid carcinomas of varying histological types (n = 33) and normal thyroids (n = 12). Membranes from differentiated carcinomas (n = 23) exhibit wide patient to patient variability; some membranes show entirely normal adenylate cyclase and TSH-binding characteristics, and other membranes exhibit decreased TSH stimulation of adenylate cyclase which is accompanied by either a normal or decrease TSH-binding site concentration. With respect to the TSH-binding site concentration and TSH stimulation of the adenylat cyclase, the well differentiated carcinomas are not significantly different from normal thyroids, whereas the moderately differentiated and the papillary carcinomas are significantly different (P < 0.