BACKGROUND Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) supplementation restores testicular atrophy associated with advanced liver cirrhosis that is a condition of IGF-I deficiency. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of IGF-I in rats with ischemia-induced testicular atrophy (AT) without liver disease and consequently with normal serum level of IGF-I. METHODS Testicular atrophy was induce...

Developmental changes in the GH-insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis were evaluated in female rhesus monkeys to test the hypothesis that estradiol differentially regulates IGF-I secretion and molar ratios of IGF-I to IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) from adolescence into adulthood and that estradiol can reestablish GH secretion in the face of enhanced IGF-I negative feedback inhibition of G...

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) has been reported previously to promote the proliferation, survival, and maturation of sympathetic neuroblasts, the genesis of retinal neurons, and the survival of CNS projection and motor neurons. Here we asked whether IGF-I could promote the in vitro differentiation of postmitotic mammalian CNS neuronal precursors derived from multipotent epidermal growth ...

The present study shows that insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and FSH receptor (FSHR) mRNAs are selectively coexpressed in a subset of healthy-appearing follicles in murine ovaries, irrespective of cycle stage. Aromatase gene expression, a prime marker for FSH effect, is found only in IGF-I/FSHR-positive follicles, showing that these are healthy, gonadotropin-responsive follicles. Given the...

The insulin receptor (IR) form hybrids with the closely related insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) receptor (IGF-I-R). Because most human breast carcinomas overexpress both the IR and the IGF-I-R, we evaluated whether the insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptor (Hybrid-R) is also overexpressed in these tumors and what role it plays in breast cancer biology. Using specific ELISAs and Western blots, we m...

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) plays an important role in regulating vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and directed migration. The mitogenic and chemotactic actions of IGF-I are mediated through the IGF-I receptor, but how the activation of the IGF-I receptor leads to these biological responses is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the role of phosphatidylinosito...

Interactions between insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and the type of I IGF receptor may be affected by high-affinity extracellular binding proteins. To date, six distinct IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) have been identified, but their physiological roles are not well understood. For example, depending on experimental conditions, IGFBP-1 has been shown to both enhance and inhibit IGF-I mediat...

Insulin-like growth factor-I and -II (IGF-I and IGF-II), both of which bind to type I IGF receptors, can modulate certain functions of the immune system. We, therefore, studied the expression of type I IGF receptors on purified subpopulations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Using two-color flow cytometry, specific binding of a monoclonal antibody directed against the type I IGF receptor ...

Differentiation of Tera-2 human embryonal carcinoma cells by exposure to 2.1 mM alpha-difluoromethylornithine resulted in changes in morphology, a decrease in growth rate, and changes in the expression of SSEA-1 differentiation antigen. While the binding of 125I-insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) remained relatively constant during differentiation, binding of 125I-IGF-II increased 2-3-fold. F...