Lutropin is processed much more rapidly than human choriogonadotropin by porcine Leydig cells in primary culture

Lutropin (LH) and human choriogonadotropin (hCG) share the same receptor and stimulate testosterone production in porcine Leydig cells in primary culture. Cells were pulsed with 125I]LH or 125I]hCG. During the chase, more than 80% of cell-bound LH consisted in internalized material which was degraded and excreted (half-time : 25 min) NH4Cl largely inhibited this degradation. On the contrary, hCG remained essentially bound to the cell surface and was not degraded by the cells with or without NH4Cl up to 160 min.