Expression and action of parathyroid hormone related peptide ( pthrp) in human cervical epithelial cells at different stages of differentiation. Kremer, Richard, Craig D. Woodworth, and David Goltzman. Calcium Research Laboratories, Royal Victoria Hospital, and Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1A1, Laboratory of Biology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
APStracts 3:0063C, 1996.
Parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHRP) expression and activity were analyzed in normal human ectocervical keratinocytes (HCX) and keratinocytes immortalized by transfection with human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 and 18 DNAs. In normal cells trans-retinoic acid (RA) and 2.0 mM calcium significantly stimulated PTHRP mRNA expression and secretion and led to a significant reduction in the rate of proliferation. In contrast, the basal level of PTHRP production decreased sharply in confluent HCX, and induction by calcium or exogenous growth factors was reduced or lost. After stable transfection with HPV-16 and 18 DNAs we observed a sharp decrease of PTHRP production in high passage poorly differentiated HCX. Finally, addition of exogenous PTHRP (1-141) inhibited proliferation of both normal cells and low passage, well-differentiated HPV-16 immortalized cells. High passage, poorly differentiated cells were refractory to PTHRP. These results demonstrate that PTHRP production varies greatly with the degree of cell proliferation and differentiation and suggest that this peptide acts as an autocrine negative growth regulator for cervical keratinocytes.

Received 28 August 1995; accepted in final form 26 January 1996.
APS Manuscript Number C529-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 13 March 96