Insulin and insulin-like growth factor I regulate a thyroid-specific nuclear protein that binds to the thyroglobulin promoter.

The mechanism responsible for the stimulation of thyroglobulin (Tg) gene expression by insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in rat thyroid FRTL-5 cells has been investigated. Both insulin and IGF-I stimulate transcription from the Tg promoter in a transient transfection assay demonstrating that the promoter used contains the DNA signals necessary for insulin and IGF-I regulation. Promoter mutations that interfere with the binding of thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1), TTF-2, and the ubiquitous transcription factor abolish the insulin/IGF-I response, indicating that the three factors may be involved in the observed transcriptional control. Protein-DNA binding studies did not reveal any effect of insulin/IGF-I on the ubiquitous transcription factor and the TTF-1 binding capacity. Instead, TTF-2 is absent in nuclear extracts from cells depleted of serum and insulin. Addition of insulin or IGF-I restores the TTF-2 concentration to normal levels and requires ongoing protein synthesis. The insulin effect was maximal at 24 h and at a concentration of 1 microgram/ml. The same effect was observed with a 10-fold lower concentration of IGF-I. These results suggest that insulin (probably through the IGF-I receptor) and IGF-I modulate the levels of TTF-2, which results in an increased expression of the Tg gene.