Differential Involvement of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase in Gonadotrophin-Releasing Hormone Actions in Gonadotrophs and Somatotrophs of Goldfish, Carassius auratus

In goldfish, two endogenous gonadotrophin-releasing hormones (GnRHs) [salmon (s)GnRH and chicken (c) GnRH-II] control maturational gonadotrophin-II [lutenising hormone (LH)] and growth hormone (GH) secretion via Ca2+-dependent intracellular signalling pathways. We investigated the involvement of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in GnRH-evoked LH and GH release and associated intracellular Ca2+ increases ([Ca2+](i)) in goldfish gonadotrophs and somatotrophs. Immunoreactive PI3K p85 alpha, the predominant regulatory subunit for class IA PI3Ks, was detected in goldfish pituitary tissue extracts and both endogenous GnRH isoforms increased phosphorylation of PI3K p85 alpha in excised pituitary fragments. sGnRH- and cGnRH-II-elicited LH release responses from primary cultures of pituitary cells and [Ca2+](i) increases in identified gonadotrophs were significantly reduced in the presence of PI3K inhibitors wortmannin (100 nM) and LY294002 (10 mu M). Unexpectedly, wortmannin and LY294002 inhibited GnRH-evoked GH release but only attenuated the [Ca2+](i) response in identified somatotrophs to cGnRH-II,and not sGnRH. On the other hand, Ca2+ ionophore-evoked LH and GH secretion remained unaltered in the presence of the PI3K inhibitors, suggesting that general decreases in the releasable hormone pool or sensitivity to [Ca2+](i) changes did not underlie the ability of wortmannin and LY294002 to reduce the actions of GnRH. These results provide the first evidence for the presence and involvement of PI3K in GnRH-induced LH and GH release in any primary pituitary cell system. In gonadotrophs, the inhibitory action of PI3K on both sGnRH and cGnRH-II involves the attenuation of their evoked [Ca2+](i); in contrast, GnRH isoform-specific effects occur in somatotrophs.