Kinetic properties of rat hepatic prolactin receptors

Binding of ¹²⁵I-labelled ovine prolactin to female rat liver membranes underequilibrium conditions showed an apparent K_d of 200 pM, and a Hill coefficient of 1.0. The association rate was second order, with a rate constant K₁, of 2.1 × 10⁷, 1.4 × 10⁷, 1.2 × 10⁷ and 4 × 10⁶ M^?1. min^?1 at 37, 30, 24 and 4° respectively. At 24° there were two components to the dissociation; a faster phase with K_?1=1.26 × 10^?2. min^?1 ($\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{=55}\text{minutes}$) and a slower phase with K_?1=1.103 × 10^?3. min^?1. The apparent K_d (from K_?1K₁) was 1.05 nM for the faster phase and 87.5 pM for the slower phase. These data suggest that there is a conformational change following hormone binding which results in an increased receptor affinity, which effectively prevents release of bound hormone.