Heterogeneity of the glucocorticoid receptors: molecular transformations during activation, detected by electrofocusing

Isoelectric focusing (IEF) of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) of the neural retina of the 14-day chick embryo was conducted under conditions that yielded quantitative recovery of binding activity. IEF of the cytosol, equilibrated with [3H]triamcinolone acetonide (TA) at 0-2 degrees C yielded three major TA-GR components with apparent isoelectric points (pI') of 5.4 +/- 0.3, 6.5 +/- 0.2, and 7.6 +/- 0.3, designated as I, II, and III, respectively. During temperature-induced activation (incubation at 30 degrees C for 60 min, in the presence of free [3H]TA and 0.15 M KCl), approximately 25% of the specifically bound TA was irreversibly lost. IEF reveals that this loss is accounted for by the complete loss of binding from I. During activation, II also decreases but correspondingly III increases, i.e., the sum of II and III remains unchanged. Only the bound TA of I is sensitive to the addition of KCl (a promoter of activation). This sensitivity of I is temperature dependent. Molybdate (an inhibitor of activation) protects the bound TA of I and suppresses the formation of III. These two effects of molybdate diminish simultaneously when the temperature is increased to 30 degrees C. III preferentially exhibits binding activity to nuclei. The data suggest that (i) the glucocorticoid-free cytosol contains two GRs, I and II, with possibly two different functions; (ii) activation involves the loss of bound TA from I and the transformation of II to III with increased pI; (iii) these two molecular events in GR activation are interdependent.     

The interaction of retinol-binding protein with its plasma-membrane receptor.

125I-labelled retinol-binding protein (RBP) bound to specific receptors in human placental brush-border membranes. Binding at 22 degrees C reached equilibrium within 15 min, but prolonged incubation caused a subsequent decline. Scatchard analysis of the equilibrium binding data at 22 degrees C and 15 min showed high-(3.0 +/- 2.7 x 10(-9) M) and low-(9.5 +/- 3.5 x 10(-8) M) affinity binding components. 125I-RBP, bound to membranes at 22 degrees C for 15 min and subsequently dissociated with excess unlabelled RBP, exhibited biphasic dissociation kinetics consisting of fast and slow components of release. In contrast, Scatchard analysis and dissociation kinetics of the binding that had taken place at 37 degrees C for 1 h showed the fast-dissociating/low-affinity binding component, but little of the slow-dissociating/higher-affinity binding component. When 125I-RBP, after incubation with membranes at 37 degrees C for 1 h, was re-isolated and subjected to dissociation kinetic analysis using a fresh batch of membranes, the fast-dissociating phase was unchanged, but the slow phase was almost absent. The complex kinetics were interpreted in terms of a heterogeneity in RBP consisting of high- and low-affinity binding forms. The higher-affinity-binding form is thought to be converted into the lower-affinity state on binding to the receptor. Transthyretin inhibited 125I-RBP binding to the membrane, suggesting that free, rather than transthyretin-associated, RBP bound to the receptor. The RBP receptor was trypsin-, heat- and thiol-group-specific-reagent sensitive and was highly specific for RBP.     

Evidence that the endogenous heat-stable glucocorticoid receptor-activating factor is thioredoxin

Extraction of rat liver cytosol with 10% charcoal at 4 degrees C inactivates specific glucocorticoid-binding capacity. The steroid-binding capacity of extracted cytosol can be restored by adding dithiothreitol or by incubating with boiled liver cytosol at 20 degrees C in the presence of 10 mM sodium molybdate. Two components of boiled cytosol are required for receptor activation: NADPH and an endogenous heat-stable protein with an apparent Mr of 12,300 by Sephadex G-50 chromatography. This endogenous receptor-activating protein coelutes on Sephadex G-50 chromatography with endogenous thioredoxin activity, and it can be replaced in the activating system by purified Escherichia coli thioredoxin. These observations suggest that glucocorticoid receptors in cytosol preparations are maintained in a reduced, steroid-binding state by a NADPH-dependent, thioredoxin-mediated reducing system.     

Characterization of cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor of fetal rat epiphyseal chondrocytes

The cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor of 21st gestational day rat epiphyseal chondrocytes has been evaluated. The receptor, a single class of glucocorticoid binding component approached saturation, utilizing [3H]triamcinolone acetonide ([3H]TA) as the radiolabeled ligand, at approximately 1.8-2.0 x 10(-8) M. The dissociation constant (Kd) reflected high-affinity binding, equaling 4.0 +/- 1.43 x 10(-9) M (n = 7) for [3H]TA. The concentration of receptor estimated from Scatchard analysis was approximately 250 fmol/mg cytosolic protein and when calculated on a sites/cell basis equalled 5800 sites/cell. The relative binding affinities of steroid for receptor were found to be triamcinolone acetonide greater than corticosterone greater than hydrocortisone greater than progesterone greater than medroxyprogesterone acetate much greater than 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone much greater than testosterone greater than 17 beta-estradiol. Cytosolic preparations activated in vitro by warming (25 degrees C for 20 min) were shown to exhibit an increased affinity for DNA-cellulose. 46% of the total specifically bound activated ligand-receptor complex was bound to DNA-cellulose. Cytosol maintained at 0-4 degrees C in the presence of 10 mM molybdate or activated in vitro in the presence of molybdate, bound to DNA-cellulose at 8 and 10% respectively. DEAE-Sephadex elution profiles of the nonactivated receptor were indicative of a single binding moiety which eluted from the columns at 0.4 M KCl. Elution profiles of activated receptor were suggestive of an activation induced receptor lability. The 0.4 M KCl peak was diminished, while a concomitant increase in the 0.2 M KCl peak was only modestly discernible. Evaluation of endogenous proteolytic activity in chondrocyte cytosol using [methyl-14C]casein as substrate show a temperature-dependent proteolytic activity with a pH optimum of 5.9-6.65. The proteolytic activity was susceptible to heat inactivation and was inhibitable, by 20 mM EDTA. The sedimentation coefficient of the nonactivated receptor was 9.3s (n = 6) on sucrose density gradients and exhibited steroid specificity and a resistance to activation induced molecular alterations when incubated in the presence of 10 mM molybdate. Receptor activation in vitro, in the absence of molybdate induced an increased receptor susceptibility to proteolytic attack and/or enhanced ligand receptor dissociation as evidenced by a diminution of the 9.3s binding form without a concomitant increase in 5s or 3s receptor fragments.     

Antiestrogen binding sites in rat liver nuclei

Isolated, intact rat liver nuclei have high-affinity (Kd = 10(-9) M) binding sites that are highly specific for nonsteroidal antiestrogens, especially for compounds of the triphenylethylene series. Nuclear [3H]tamoxifen binding capacity is thermolabile, being most stable at 4 degrees C and rapidly lost at 37 degrees C. More [3H]tamoxifen, however, is specifically bound at incubation temperatures of 25 degrees C and 37 degrees C than at 4 degrees C although prewarming nuclei has no effect, suggesting exchange of [3H]tamoxifen for an unidentified endogeneous ligand. Nuclear antiestrogen binding sites are destroyed by trypsin but not by deoxyribonuclease I or ribonuclease A. The nuclear antiestrogen binding protein is not solubilized by 0.6 M potassium chloride, 2 M sodium chloride, 0.6 M sodium thiocyanate, 3 M urea, 20 mM pyridoxal phosphate, 1% (w/v) digitonin or 2% (w/v) sodium cholate but is extractable by sonication, indicating that it is tightly bound within the nucleus. Rat liver nuclear matrix contains high-affinity (Kd = 10(-9) M) [3H]tamoxifen binding sites present in 5-fold higher concentrations (4.18 pmol/mg DNA) than in intact nuclei (0.78 +/- 0.10 (S.D.) pmol/mg DNA). Low-speed rat liver cytosol (20 000 X g, 30 min) contains high-capacity (955 +/- 405 (S.D.) fmol/mg protein), low-affinity (Kd = 10.9 +/- 4.5 (S.D.) nM) antiestrogen binding sites. In contrast, high-speed cytosol (100 000 X g, 60 min) contains low-capacity (46 +/- 15 (S.D.) fmol/mg protein), high-affinity (Kd = 0.61 +/- 0.20 (S.D.) nM) binding sites. Low-affinity cytosolic sites constitute more than 90% of total liver binding sites, high-affinity cytosolic sites 0.3%-3.2%, and nuclear sites less than 0.5% of total sites.     

Effect of salicyclic acid on gluccorticoid receptor in cultured fibroblasts derived from rat carrageenin granuloma.

The binding activity of [3H]dexamethasone to the specific receptor was studied in the cytoplasmic fraction of a established fibroblast line derived from rat carrageenin granuloma in culture condition. Specific receptor to dexamethasone was demonstrated. Scatchard analysis revealed a single class of binding sites with a dissociation constant for [3H]dexamethasone of 3.64 - 10(-8) M and a concentration of binding sites of 0.825 pmol per mg cytosol protein. The number of cytoplasmic binding sites per cell was calculated at 1.15 - 10(5). Total binding activity to [3H]dexamethasone of the cytoplasmic fraction was enhanced when the cells were cultured in a medium containing salicylic acid was at 37 degrees C. The maximum enhancement was seen at the concentration of 10(-3)M and in 3h treatment of salicylic acid. This enhancement by salicylic acid was lost when cycloheximide was added to the culture medium at the same time. If salicyclic acid was added to the cell free system, it showed no effect on the binding activity. The other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; phenylbutazone and indomethacin,also enhanced the total binding activity to [3H]dexamethasone of the cytoplasmic fraction at the concentration of 2 - 10(-5) M and 2 - 10(-7) M, respectively.     

RNase A effects on sedimentation and DNA binding properties of dexamethasone-receptor complexes from HeLa cell cytosol

Dexamethasone-receptor complexes from HeLa cell cytosol sediment at 7.4S in low salt sucrose gradients, and at 3.8S in high salt gradients. If cytosol is heated at 25 degrees C, receptor complexes sediment at 6.9S in low salt, and at 3.6S in high salt gradients. RNase A treatment at 25 degrees C, instead, results in receptor complexes which sediment in low salt gradients as two major forms at 6.5 and 4.8S. Receptor complexes from RNase A-treated cytosols sediment as their counterparts from untreated cytosols in high salt gradients. Although the shift in sedimentation properties of receptor complexes at 2 degrees C is induced by RNase A, and not by other low molecular weight basic proteins or RNase T1, the effect can be also obtained by inactive RNase A. The catalytically active enzyme, however, is required to observe 6.5 and 4.8S complexes after cytosol incubations at 25 degrees C. Placental ribonuclease inhibitor prevents the appearance of RNase A-induced receptor forms at 25 degrees C, but not at 2 degrees C. Moreover, this inhibitor can prevent the 7.4 to 6.9S shift in sedimentation coefficient of receptor complexes caused by cytosol heating. Dexamethasone-receptor complexes from HeLa cell cytosol show low levels of binding to DNA-cellulose, and heating at 25 degrees C is required to observe a six-fold increase in DNA binding levels. RNase A treatment of cytosols at 2 degrees C does not result in significant enhancement in receptor complex binding to DNA. If RNase A treatment is carried out at 25 degrees C, however, DNA binding levels of receptor complexes increased by 25% over the values observed with control heated cytosol. This effect cannot be observed if RNase T1 substitutes for RNase A. Placental ribonuclease inhibitor can prevent the temperature-dependent increase in DNA binding properties of dexamethasone-receptor complexes either in the presence or absence of exogenous RNase A. These findings indicate that exogenous RNases can perturb the structure of dexamethasone-receptor complexes without being involved in the transformation process.     

Physicochemical characterization of a new glucocorticoid receptor

A new glucocorticoid-binding protein (Peak C) eluted with 0.14 M NaCl on DEAE-cellulose chromatography was identified previously in the rats subjected to stress or treated with glucocorticoid (100 micrograms/100 g body wt.), while the 'classic' glucocorticoid receptor (Peak B) eluted with 0.07 M NaCl was found predominantly in untreated rats. The new glucocorticoid-binding protein, Peak C, was characterized by Scatchard analysis and competition with other steroids as a glucocorticoid receptor. The saturation curve of Peak C for dexamethasone was sigmoidal, whereas that of Peak B was hyperbolic. The Hill coefficient was 1.0 for Peak B and 3.1 for Peak C. These results show that Peak C has multiple binding sites. Peak C bound specifically to only natural or synthetic glucocorticoids, whereas Peak B bound not only to glucocorticoids but also to progesterone and aldosterone. Peak C was far more labile than Peak B, its binding activity decreasing 80% when it was incubated for 30 min at 25 degrees C. The molecular sizes of these two peaks (B and C) were similar, being about 90 000-100 000 as determined by Sepharose 6B column chromatography at high ionic strength (0.34 M KCl). The hormone-receptor complex of Peak C bound to rat liver chromatin specifically, but did not bind to calf thymus DNA. The complex of Peak B bound to not only the chromatin but also calf thymus DNA. Peak B reacted well with antiserum to the 'classic' glucocorticoid receptor, but Peak C did not react with this antiserum. These results indicate that Peak C is a different glucocorticoid receptor protein from Peak B, or classic glucocorticoid receptor, and plays physiologically important roles as a glucocorticoid receptor mediating the action of the hormone at a high level.     

Titratable effects of p-chloromercuriphenyl sulfonate, a thiol-attacking reagent, on glucocorticoid receptor binding

Cytosol prepared from cultured AtT-20 mouse pituitary cells or mouse liver was treated with concentrations of p-chloromercuriphenyl sulfonate (PCMPS) which reduced but did not abolish receptor-binding activity. Scatchard analysis of triamcinolone acetonide binding to the treated cytosol showed that the PCMPS effect was caused by a reduction of binding affinity with little effect on the apparent binding site concentration. The effect on affinity was dose-dependent. Binding specificity appeared unaffected since the relative abilities of triamcinolone acetonide, dexamethasone, cortisol, progesterone, and corticosterone to compete with labeled triamcinolone were similar at various PCMPS concentrations which caused a progressive reduction of detectable cytosol binding. The PCMPS effect was reversible since cytosol treated with up to 200 microM PCMPS followed by dithiothreitol 15 min later showed nearly complete recovery of binding sites (62-100%). The possibility that several sulfhydryl groups were involved in this phenomenon was further explored in experiments using AtT-20 cytosol labeled with [3H]dexamethasone-mesylate, a glucocorticoid affinity label which binds covalently to sulfhydryl groups. Chromatography of dexamethasone-mesylate labeled receptor on a sulfhydryl affinity column resulted in binding, indicating that the receptor had at least two sulfhydryl groups, one bound to the mesylate moiety of the steroid and the other capable of binding to the affinity column.     

Protamine-precipitated estrogen receptor: a solid-phase ligand exchange assay.

Cytoplasmic estrogen receptor can exist either free (R) or bound to estradiol-17beta (RE). Both forms can be precipitated from cytosols by protamine sulfate. After protamine precipitation R binds 3-H-estradiol-17beta quantitatively at either 0 degrees or 30 degrees, while precipitated RE binds 3-H-estradiol-17beta only at 30 degrees by exchanging with previously bound hormone. Using these observations, we have developed a method for separate determination of both cytoplasmic R and RE. This method should also be applicable for assay of other steroid receptors, especially in cases where interfering components are present in the whole cytosol.     

Comparison of formation, activation, and nuclear translocation of receptor . estradiol (R . E2) complex at 0 degrees C and 37 degrees C in intact uterine cells.

The present study was undertaken to establish whether molecular events leading to binding, transformation-activation, and nuclear translocation of cytoplasmic uterine estrogen receptor described for cell-free systems also occur in intact uterine cells. Cell suspensions were incubated at 0 degrees C or 37 degrees C with estradiol (E2) and specific binding to intracellular receptors was measured. The data demonstrate that saturation of specific estrogen binding sites occurs within 60 min at 37 degrees C and within 22 h at 0 degrees C, with a total of approximately 24,000 to 30,000 receptor sites per cell. At equilibrium, the total number and subcellular distribution of receptor . estradiol (R . E2) complexes formed in cells incubated at 0 degrees C or 37 degrees C were identical. Scatchard analysis of the equilibrium binding data yielded the same association constants for cytoplasmic and nuclear R . E2 formed in intact cells incubated at either temperature. Sucrose density gradient analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic R . E2 formed in intact cells at 0 degrees C or 37 degrees C showed that at both temperatures, the nuclear R . E2 had a 5 S sedimentation coefficient; at both temperatures, a 5 S cytosol R . E2 was detected; only in the 0 degrees C incubation, an additional 4 S cytosol R . E2 was found. These results suggest that the molecular interactions regulating the dynamics of estrogen binding in the intact cell are similar at both physiological and low temperatures.     

Hydrocortisone binding receptor in the rat pituitary GH3 cell line.

A receptor with specificity and high affinity for hydrocortisone (HC) has been found in the cytosol of GH₃ cells, a growth hormone (GH) producing culture. Scatchard analysis indicated that the interaction of [³H]HC with the receptor has an apparent dissociation constant (K_d) of about 6.0 × 10^?9M and a concentration of binding sites of approx. 1 × 10^?13 mol/mg cytosol protein. The second order association rate constant was determined to be 1.5 × 10⁶ M^?1 min^?1. The receptor activity is stable at 2°C for several hours, but is destroyed completely by heating at 37°C for 1 hour, or by treatment with pronase, only partially by RNase, but not by DNase. The binding of [³H]HC to the cytosol receptor is inhibited by unlabeled progesterone (PR) or dexamethasone to the same extent as the inhibition by unlabeled HC. However, it is only partially inhibited by testosterone, 17-methyl-testosterone, 17α and 17β-estradiol, and 4-pregnen-20β-ol-3-one, and is unaffected by 5α-pregnan-3β,20β-diol. The biological role for these receptors in the regulation of GH synthesis is supported by the observations that the HC-stimulated production of GH is antagonized by PR, which competes with the binding of HC to the receptor.     

The role of sulfhydryl groups in permitting transformation and DNA binding of the glucocorticoid receptor

Treatment of rat liver cytosol containing temperature-transformed, [3H]dexamethasone-bound receptors at 0 degree C with the sulfhydryl-modifying reagent methyl methanethiosulfonate (MMTS) inhibits the DNA-binding activity of the receptor, and DNA-binding activity is restored after addition of dithiothreitol (DTT). When cytosol containing untransformed receptors is heated at 25 degrees C in the presence of MMTS, the 90-kDa heat shock protein dissociates from the receptor in the same manner as in the absence of MMTS, and the receptor will bind to DNA-cellulose if DTT is added subsequently at 0 degree C. These observations are consistent with the conclusion of Bodwell et al. (Bodwell, J. E., Holbrook. N. J. and Munck, A. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 1392-1398) that sulfhydryl moieties on the receptor are absolutely required for the receptor to bind to DNA, and they show that the sulfhydryl-modifying reagent does not inhibit the temperature-mediated dissociation of the heteromeric receptor complex that accompanies transformation to the DNA-binding state. When steroid-receptor complexes that are prebound to DNA-cellulose are exposed to MMTS, the steroid rapidly dissociates, but the receptor remains bound to DNA. Thus, the presence of steroid is not required for the receptor to remain bound to DNA in a high affinity manner. Treatment of cytosol containing transformed glucocorticoid-receptor complexes at 0 degrees C with 20 mM hydrogen peroxide also inactivates the DNA-binding activity of the receptor. The peroxide-induced inactivation is reversed by DTT. Incubation of rat liver cytosol containing untransformed glucocorticoid-receptor complexes at 25 degrees C with hydrogen peroxide prevents their transformation to the DNA-binding form as shown by their inability to bind to DNA-cellulose after addition of DTT. The presence of peroxide during heating of the cytosol also prevents dissociation of the receptor complex as assayed both by reduction in sedimentation value of the receptor and by dissociation of the 90-kDa heat shock protein from the steroid-binding protein. These results strongly suggest that critical sulfur moieties in the receptor complex must be in a reduced form for the temperature-mediated dissociation of the receptor to occur.     

Cell wall composition and surface properties in Bacillus subtilis: anomalous effect of incubation temperature on the phage-binding properties of bacteria containing varied amounts of teichoic acid

Adsorption of bacteriophage SP50 to walls and heat-killed cells of Bacillus subtilis 168 appeared to be irreversible at both 37 and 0 degree C. Few, if any, active phage were desorbed when phage-wall complexes, formed at either temperature, were suspended in fresh medium. Bacteria rich in wall teichoic acid (TA) bound phage rapidly at both 0 and 37 degrees C, binding at the higher temperature being approximately twice as fast. Bacteria containing diminished proportions of TA showed less rapid phage adsorption but the reduction in rate was greater at 37 than at 0 degree C and bacteria containing only small proportions of TA bound phage more rapidly at 0 degree C than they did at 37 degrees C. These findings show that at low phage receptor density the temperature affects some component(s) involved in the phage-bacterium interaction such that the collision efficiency is increased at the lower temperature. The possible effect of temperature on the organization of bacterial surface components is discussed.     

Physicochemical characterization of a new glucocorticoid receptor

A new glucocorticoid-binding protein (Peak C) eluted with 0.14 M NaCl on DEAE-cellulose chromatography was identified previously in the rats subjected to stress or treated with glucocorticoid (100 μg/100 g body wt.), while the ‘classic’ glucocorticoid receptor (Peak B) eluted with 0.07 M NaCl was found predominantly in untreated rats. The new glucocorticoid-binding protein, Peak C, was characterized by Scatchard analysis and competition with other steroids as a glucocorticoid receptor. The saturation curve of Peak C for dexamethasone was sigmoidal, whereas that of Peak B was hyperbolic. The Hill coefficient was 1.0 for Peak B and 3.1 for Peak C. These results show that Peak C has multiple binding sites. Peak C bound specificially to only natural or synthetic glucocorticoids, whereas Peak B bound not only to glucocorticoids but also to progesterone and aldosterone. Peak C was far more labile than Peak B, its binding activity decreasing 80% when it was incubated for 30 min at 25°C. The molecular sizes of these two peaks (B and C) were similar, being about 90 000–100 000 as determined by Sepharose 6B column chromatography at high ionic strength (0.35 M KCl). The hormone-receptor complex of Peak C bound to rat liver chromatin specifically, but did not bind to calf thymus DNA. The complex of Peak B bound to not only the chromatin but also calf thymus DNA. Peak B reacted well with antiserum to the ‘classic’ glucocorticoid receptor, but Peak C did not react with this antiserum. These results indicate that Peak C is a different glucocorticoid receptor protein from Peak B, or classic glucocorticoid receptor, and plays physiologically important roles as a glucocorticoid receptor mediating the action of the hormone at a high level.     

A monoclonal antibody to a 48 K antigen in oestrogen-dependent human breast cancer cells

A mouse was immunised with an antigen(s) purified by oestradiol-Sepharose affinity chromatography of pooled oestrogen-receptor positive cytosols from human breast cancer tissue. One antibody secreting clone was identified which precipitated labelled antigen and which also stained MCF-7 cells. Culture supernatant and ascites fluid were used for immunofluorescence, SDS-PAGE-Western blotting, photoaffinity labelling and binding studies. The antibody staining of MCF-7 cells was inhibited by preincubation in oestrogen-receptor positive cytosol but was unaffected by oestrogen-receptor negative cytosol. MCF-7 cells stained whether cultured in the presence or absence of oestradiol. The oestrogen-receptor negative cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-330 did not stain. Binding studies with 16-alpha-iodooestradiol using breast cancer tissue cytosols followed by immunoprecipitation showed activity only with oestrogen-receptor positive cytosols with optimal binding activity at 4 degrees C, unaffected by molybdate, but reduced at 25 degrees C or in the presence of 0.4 M KCl. Binding studies with MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-330 cytosols and nuclear fractions only showed activity with the MCF-7 cytosol and MCF-7 particulate fractions. The antibody recognised a 48 K species in both MCF-7 cytosol and nuclear fractions but not in the cytosol and nuclear extracts of oestrogen-receptor negative cell lines. Photoaffinity labelling using 16 alpha-iodooestradiol suggests the 48 K antigen does not bind oestradiol directly. The relationship of this antigen to the classical oestrogen-receptor and receptor complex awaits further clarification.     

Changes in the ability of malonyl-CoA to inhibit carnitine palmitoyltransferase I activity and to bind to rat liver mitochondria during incubation in vitro. Differences in binding at 0 degree C and 37 degrees C with a fixed concentration of malonyl-CoA.

Time courses for inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) I activity in, and [14C]malonyl-CoA binding to, liver mitochondria from fed or 48 h-starved rats were obtained at 37 degrees C by using identical incubation conditions and a fixed concentration of malonyl-CoA (3.5 microM), which represents the middle of the physiological range observed previously [Zammit (1981) Biochem. J. 198, 75-83] Incubation of mitochondria in the absence of malonyl-CoA resulted in a time-dependent decrease in the ability of the metabolite instantaneously to inhibit CPT I and to bind to the mitochondria. Both degree of inhibition and binding were restored in parallel over a period of 6-8 min on subsequent addition of malonyl-CoA to the incubation medium. However, the increased inhibition of CPT I activity on addition of mitochondria directly to malonyl-CoA-containing medium was not accompanied by an increase in the amount of [14C]malonyl-CoA bound to mitochondria at 37 degrees C. Time courses for binding of [14C]malonyl-CoA performed at 0 degree C were different from those obtained at 37 degrees C. There was little loss of ability of [14C]malonyl-CoA to bind to mitochondria on incubation in the absence of the metabolite, but there was a time-dependent increase in binding on addition of mitochondria to malonyl-CoA-containing medium. It is suggested that these temperature-dependent differences between the time courses obtained may be due to the occurrence of different changes at 37 degrees C and at 0 degree C in the relative contributions of different components (with different affinities) to the binding observed at 3.5 microM-malonyl-CoA. Evidence for multi-component binding was obtained in the form of strongly curvilinear Scatchard plots for instantaneous (5s) binding of malonyl-CoA to mitochondria. Such multi-component binding would be expected from previous results on the different affinities of CPT I for malonyl-CoA with respect to inhibition [Zammit (1984) Biochem. J. 218, 379-386]. Mitochondria obtained from starved rats showed qualitatively the same time courses as those described above, with notable quantitative differences with respect both to the absolute extents of CPT I inhibition and [14C]malonyl-CoA binding achieved as well as to the time taken to attain them.     

Evidence that pH induced activation of the rat hepatic glucocorticoid-receptor complex is irreversible

The possible reversibility of pH induced activation of the glucocorticoid-receptor complex was studied. Generally, this was accomplished by activating rat liver cytosol at pH 8.5 (15 degrees C, 30 min), and then returning it to pH 6.5 for a second incubation (15 degrees C, 30 min). Activation was quantitated by measuring the binding of [3H]triamcinolone acetonide [( 3H]TA)-receptor complexes to DNA-cellulose. When cytosol was incubated at pH 6.5, only 4.1% of the [3H]TA-receptor complexes bound to DNA-cellulose. However, 39.2% of the complexes bound when the cytosol was pH activated. When pH activation was followed by a second incubation at pH 6.5, 47.0% of the steroid-receptor complexes bound. Thus, according to the DNA-cellulose binding assay, pH induced activation was irreversible. In order to visualize both activated and unactivated [3H]TA-receptor complexes during this process, diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-cellulose chromatography was performed. When cytosol was incubated at pH 6.5, only 19.6% of the [3H]TA-receptor complexes were eluted in the activated form from DEAE-cellulose. However, 67.5% of the complexes were eluted in the activated form when cytosol was pH activated. When pH activation was followed by a second incubation at pH 6.5, 74.9% of the steroid-receptor complexes were eluted in the activated form. Thus, DEAE-cellulose chromatography also showed that pH induced activation was irreversible. This is the first known report that the combination of DNA-cellulose binding and DEAE-cellulose chromatography have been used to study pH induced activation of the glucocorticoid-receptor complex. By these criteria, we conclude that in vitro pH induced activation is irreversible.     

Identification and properties of renal mineralocorticoid receptors in relation to glucocorticoid binders in rat liver and kidney.

The binding of the natural mineralocorticoid aldosterone and the glucocorticoid corticosterone to macromolecules in rat liver and kidney cytoplasmic fractions was compared by various chromatographic procedures. Equilibration of kidney cytosol with 10nM-aldosterone, either alone or in the presence of a competing steroid, was ideal for ionexchange chromatography of DEAE-cellulose DE-52, and revealed the presence of four sorts of binding components. One of these, eluted in the 0.001M-phosphate pre-wash, and another, less abundant, forming a peak at 0.006M-phosphate, did not bind corticosterone at equimolar concentrations, and appear to constitute the mineralocorticoid-specific 'MR' receptor in rat kidney. They could not be detected in the liver. Radioactivity eluted in the 0.02 and 0.06M-phosphate regions on DEAE-cellulose DE-52 appears to be due to [3H]aldosterone binding to glucocorticoid-specific 'GR' receptors and to transcortin respectively, since labelling was greater with corticosterone even at 10 nM than with the mineralocorticoid at 100nM and since [14C]corticosterone bound to blood serum transcortin was always co-chromatographed in the 0.06M-phosphate region. These two components appear to be identical with those in the liver and could be labelled maximally only by 100nM-corticosterone. The separation between specific mineralo- and glucocorticoid-binding species was less clear when chromatography was attempted on DEAE-Sephadex A-50 columns, possibly because of disaggregation into subunits in the presence of the high KC1 concentrations required for elution. Competitive binding followed by filtration through Sephadex G-200 gel indicated that cellular MR binders, unlike GR receptors, exist mostly as high-molecular-weight aggregates, although both appear to exhibit a comparable monomeric molecular weight of approx. 67000.     

Biopotency and nuclear binding of glucocorticoids

Nuclear binding abilities of 3 glucocorticoids, dexamethasone (Dex), prednisolone (Pred) and corticosterone (Cort), which exhibited different biopotencies were compared in vitro. cytosols labelled with 3H-Dex, 3H-Pred and 3H-Cort from the rat liver prepared by incubation at 0 degrees C for 16 hr were bound to isolated liver nuclei in rates of approximately 25%, 9% and 1% of added radioactivity, respectively. Nuclear binding rates observed were correlated with biopotencies of these steroids. Time course studies of the cytosol binding revealed that the difference in the nuclear binding ability of these ligands was attributable, at least in part, to the metabolic transformation of ligands during the incubation period. A significant portion of 3H-Pred and 3H-Cort was transformed to polar metabolite(s) even under the incubation conditions at 0 degrees C. Kd's of the cytosol binding to 3H-Dex which was metabolically stable were decreased with the length of incubation time, significantly lower Kd being observed in the cytosol incubated for 16 hr than in those incubated for 2 and 6 hr. Kd's and the number of maximum binding sites were erratic when the ligands received biotransformation during the course of incubation. Transformed 3H-Pred and 3H-Cort during the incubation still exhibited features of the protein bound state. Besides biotransformation of ligands, structure related difference in the nuclear binding ability of these glucocorticoids was also observed. These observations suggest that metabolic susceptibility as well as structure related ability of the nuclear binding may contribute to the biopotency of glucocorticoids.