Regulation of glycosylation of TSH was studied in primary cultures of normal rat pituitary cells. [3H]Glucosamine or [3H]proline incorporation into immunoprecipitable TSH and trichloroacetic acid-precipitable proteins was measured after incubation periods ranging from 4-72 h. TSH release was assessed by RIA of TSH in the medium. TRH (30 nM) specifically increased the glycosylation of TSH despite the fact that it did not stimulate [3H]proline incorporation into the hormone even after 72 h of continuous labeling. The TRH-stimulated [3H]glucosamine-labeled TSH was completely recovered in the incubation medium. Effective concentrations of TRH were in the same range as those necessary for stimulation of TSH release (10(-10) - 10(-6) M). Somatostatin (50 nM) and T3 (10 microM) antagonized TRH effects on both TSH release and glycosylation. Stages of TSH glycosylation were discriminated by the addition to the culture medium of tunicamycin (10 micrograms/ml) or monensin (25 microM), which are known to inhibit core and terminal glycosylation of proteins, respectively. Medium [3H]glucosamine-labeled TSH was fully glycosylated, whereas a large part of the intracellular hormone was only core glycosylated. This suggests that terminal glycosylation of TSH could be related to hormone secretion. TRH stimulated essentially only terminal glycosylation of TSH. No alteration of core glycosylation of the hormone was observed after TRH treatment. The stimulating effect of TRH on terminal glycosylation of TSH is probably related to its ability to stimulate hormone release.