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We tested the possibility that bovine adrenal capillary endothelial
cells (ECs) stimulate aldosterone secretion from bovine zona
glomerulosa (ZG) cells by the release of a transferable factor. In
coincubations of ZG cells and ECs in serum-free medium, aldosterone
release was stimulated approximately 17-fold, and the stimulation was
related to the concentration of ECs. The maximal stimulation by ECs was
75% of the maximal response to ACTH. In contrast, adrenal pericytes
and fibroblasts were without effect. ECs incubated alone without ZG
cells did not produce aldosterone. Conditioned medium from ECs (EC-CM),
but not adrenal fibroblasts, stimulated aldosterone release
approximately 3-fold. The stimulation increased with the concentration
of EC-CM and the duration of conditioning time. Steroidogenic activity
in EC-CM was abolished by pronase treatment, indicating that the active
factor was a protein. However, the activity in EC-CM was distinct from
that of endothelin-1 (ET-1), an endothelial peptide that also
stimulates aldosterone secretion, as it was not blocked by the
ETB receptor antagonist PD-145065, it did not alter[
125I]ET-1 binding to ZG cells, and its release occurred
before the release of ET-1. Neither ECs nor EC-CM stimulated the
production of cortisol from zona fasciculata cells. The activity
of EC-CM was not blocked by an angiotensin II AT1 receptor
antagonist or a bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist. EC-CM
stimulated increased intracellular calcium in fura-2-loaded ZG cells,
but did not increase the production of cAMP. Using gel filtration, this
peptide had an approximate molecular mass of 3000 Da and migrated
earlier than ET-1. This study demonstrates that ECs in
vitro alter steroidogenesis through the release of a
transferable substance and suggests the existence of an
endothelium-derived steroidogenic factor that is produced by adrenal
capillary ECs. This endothelium-derived steroidogenic factor may
function in the adrenal gland as a paracrine regulator of aldosterone
secretion.