Potential role of somatomedin inhibitors in the production of diabetic embryopathies

Abstract

Mouse conceptuses at the 18–21-somite stage were grown for 2–24 h in vitro in the presence of a serum fraction (M_r = 800–1,080 daltons) possessing somatomedin-inhibitory activity (SI) isolated from diabetic rats. Following an 8-h exposure to the SI, DNA and incorporation of ³H-thymidine were reduced in the embryos while 12 h was required to observe a reduction in total protein and RNA. At the 24-h time point, the neurectoderm was thinner than in controls, and autoradiograms of this region showed a substantial decrease in grain density with ³H-thymidine, but not ³H-leucine or -uridine. Effects on the visceral yolk sac (VYS) preceded those on the embryo. The cytoplasm of the VYS endoderm cells from conceptuses exposed to the SI contained many vacuoles by 4 h, which were larger by 24 h. Total protein was greater than in controls from 4 h onward, although ³H-leucine incorporation, which had increased after 2 h of SI exposure, returned to control levels by 8 h. As seen by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, VYSs from conceptuses exposed to the SI for 4 or 24 h were enriched (compared to control VYSs) in four protein bands also present in the culture medium (primarily rat serum), suggesting that protein degradation and/or transfer of amino acids and peptides to the embryo was inhibited in these VYSs. Such a conclusion was supported by a quantitative decrease in proteins and amino acids in the exocoelomic fluid of conceptuses exposed to the SI for 24 h. The altered processing of proteins may therefore represent a primary cause of the SI-induced embryonic abnormalities.