Regulation of FRTL-5 Thyroid Cell Growth by Phosphatidylinositol (OH) 3 Kinase-Dependent Akt-Mediated Signaling

Thyrotropin (TSH)-initiated cell cycle progression from G 1 to S phase in FRTL-5 thyroid cells requires serum, insulin, or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and involves activation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, geranylgeranylation of RhoA, p27 Kip1 degradation, and activation of cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) 2. In the present report, we show that the serine-threonine kinase Akt is an important mediator of insulin/IGF-1/serum effects on cell cycle progression in FRTL-5 thyroid cells. The phosphoinositol (OH) 3 kinase inhibitors, Wortmannin (WM) and Ly294002 (LY), block the ability of insulin/IGF-1 to reduce p27 expression, to induce expression of cyclins E, D1, and A as well as cdk 2 and 4, and to phosphorylate retinoblastoma protein. They also inhibit insulin/IGF-1-increased DNA synthesis and cell cycle entrance (S+G 2 /M). Insulin/IGF-1 rapidly induced activation of Akt1 in a PI3 kinase-dependent manner, and increased Akt1 RNA levels. Most importantly, FRTL-5 cells transfected with a constitutively active form of Akt1 have higher basal rates of DNA synthesis and no longer require exogenous insulin/IGF-1 or serum for TSH-induced growth. In sum, Akt1 appears to have an important role in insulin/IGF-1 regulation of FRTL-5 thyroid cell growth and cell cycle progression.