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Virus infection activates thyroid stimulating hormone synthesis in intestinal epithelial cells

The small intestine has been shown to be an extra‐pituitary site of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) production, and previous in vivo studies have shown that TSH synthesis localizes within areas of enteric virus infection within the small intestine; however, the cellular source of intestinal TSH has not been adequately determined. In the present study, we have used the murine MODE‐K small intestinal epithelial cell line to demonstrate both at the transcriptional level and as a secreted hormone, as measured in a TSHβ‐specific enzyme‐linked assay, that epithelial cells in fact respond to infection with reovirus serotype 3 Dearing strain by upregulating TSH synthesis. Moreover, sequence analysis of a PCR‐amplified TSHβ product from MODE‐K cells revealed homology to mouse pituitary TSHβ. These findings have direct functional implications for understanding a TSH immune‐endocrine circuit in the small intestine. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 271–276, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.