Equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) is a unique molecule that elicits the response characteristics of both follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) in other species. Previous studies from this laboratory had demonstrated that recombinant eCG (rec-eCG) from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells exhibited both FSH- and LH-like activity in rat granulosa and Leydig cells. In this study, we analyzed receptor internalization through rec-eCGs, wild type eCG (eCGβ/α) and mutant eCG (eCGβ/αΔ56) with an N-linked oligosaccharide at Asn56 of the α-subunit. Both the rec-eCGs were obtained from CHO-K1 cells. The agonist activation of receptors was analyzed by measuring stimulation time and concentrations of rec-eCGs. Internalization values in the stably selected rat follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (rFSHR) and rat luteinizing/chorionic gonadotropin receptor (rLH/CGR) were highest at 50 min after stimulation with 10 ng of rec-eCGβ/α. The dose-dependent response was highest when 10 ng of rec-eCGβ/α was used. The deglycosylated eCGβ/αΔ56 mutant did not enhance the agonist-stimulated internalization. We concluded that the state of activation of rFSHR and rLH/CGR could be modulated through agonist-stimulated internalization. Our results suggested that the eLH/CGRs are mostly internalized within 60 min by agonist-stimulation by rec-eCG. We also suggested that the lack of responsiveness of the deglycosylated eCGβ/ αΔ56 was likely because the site of glycosylation played a pivotal role in agonist-stimulated internalization in cells expressing rFSHR and rLH/CGR.

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Luteinizing hormone as other glycoprotein hormones is characterized by a heterodimeric structure composed a common α-subunit noncovalently linked to a specific β-subunit. The correct conformation of the heterodimer is important for efficient secretion, hormonal-specific post-translational modifications, receptor binding and signal transduction. To determine whether αand βsubunits can be synthesized as a single polypeptide chain (tethered-bLH and -bFSH) and also display biological activities, the tethered-bLH and -bFSH molecules were constructed and transfected into chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells. LH and FSH activities were assayed by using the human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells expressing rat LH and FSH receptor genes. The tethered-bLH and -bFSH proteins were efficiently secreted and showed a similar activity to the dimeric bovine LH and FSH α/β wild type and native purified from bovine pituitary. The tethered-molecules can be permit development of potent new analogues that stimulate ovarian development. Taken together, a single-chain analog can also be constructed to include additional hormone-specific bioactive generating potentially efficacious compounds. These data indicate the potentiality of the single chain approach to further investigate structurefunction relationships of LH and FSH.