Recombinant tumor necrosis factor (TNF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) stimulated growth of confluent human diploid fibroblasts (FS-4 cells) in the presence of fetal calf serum. TGF-beta synergistically enhanced both the TNF- and EGF-stimulated cell growth, whereas synergism between the mitogenic action of EGF and that of TNF was not observed. When indomethacin or acetylsalicylic acid, an inhibitor of prostaglandin production, was added to FS-4 cells, cell growth stimulated by EGF or TNF was increased, suggesting that prostaglandins induced by these mitogens antagonize their growth stimulatory actions. In contrast, neither indomethacin nor acetylsalicylic acid had a significant effect on the TGF-beta-induced growth of FS-4 cells. Mitogenic responses of indomethacin-treated cells to EGF, TNF, and TGF-beta were similarly suppressed by the addition of exogenous prostaglandin D2 (PGD2). Other prostaglandins such as PGE2 and PGF2 produced less inhibition of the cell growth.
ABSTRACT. Human recombinant tumor necrosis factor (TNF) stimulated the growth of confluent human fibroblasts (FS-4) in the presence of fetal calf serum. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) similarly stimulated cellular growth; however other mitogenic factors such as insulin, fibroblast growth factor, 12-Otetradecanoyl-phorbol-12-acetate and Ca2+ ionophore A23187 did not. The growth-stimulating action of TNF was not synergistic with the activity of EGF in the presence of serum. TNF induced a rapid increase in the binding of transferrin to the cell surface, followed by a return to the basal level within 5 min. A similar increase in transferrin binding was observed in FS-4 cells exposed to EGF. In contrast, insulin caused a prolonged stimulation of transferrin binding. These results suggest that TNF and EGF generate similar or identical intracellular signals for cellular growth and the regulation of transferrin receptor expression.
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