1. Biochemical properties of brain somatostatin receptors
K Thermos, N Margolis, H L Wang, H T He, T Reisine Neuroscience . 1989;31(1):131-41. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(89)90035-3.
The physical properties of brain and pituitary somatostatin receptors were characterized using photocrosslinking techniques. Somatostatin receptors in rat corpus striatum and anterior pituitary membranes were covalently bound to the non-reducible somatostatin analog, [125I]CGP 23996, using the crosslinking agent n-hydroxysuccinimidyl-4-azidobenzoate and ultraviolet light. In striatal membranes, a protein of 60,000 mol. wt was labeled by [125I]CGP 23996. The binding was potently inhibited by somatostatin analogs but not by other biologically active peptides. The labeling of the 60,000 mol. wt protein by [125I]CGP 23996 was diminished by guanine triphosphate gamma thiol, which is consistent with the labeling of a somatostatin receptor coupled to guanine triphosphate binding proteins. The migration of the [125I]CGP 23996 labeled 60,000 mol. wt protein in native sodium dodecyl sulfate-gels was not affected by the reducing agent dithiothreitol, indicating that there is a general lack of disulfide bridges in the striatal somatostatin receptor. The striatal somatostatin receptor was solubilized with the detergent 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylaminoio]-1-propanesulfonate and specifically bound to the lectin wheat germ agglutinin, suggesting that the striatal somatostatin receptor is a glycoprotein. [125I]CGP 23996 also labeled a 60,000 mol. wt protein in anterior pituitary membranes. The characteristics of [125I]CGP 23996 binding to anterior pituitary membranes were consistent with the labeling of a somatostatin receptor. Interestingly, a comparison of the [125I]CGP 23996 labeled material from striatal and anterior pituitary membranes by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of several striatal somatostatin receptors of varying charge (pI values between 6 and 6.5) but only a single pituitary receptor. These findings indicate that physical differences may exist between subtypes of somatostatin receptors.
2. Covalent labeling of the somatostatin receptor in rat anterior pituitary membranes
J F Bruno, M Berelowitz Endocrinology . 1989 Feb;124(2):831-7. doi: 10.1210/endo-124-2-831.
The molecular characteristics of the somatostatin (SRIF) receptor were investigated by covalently cross-linking [125I-Tyr11]SRIF to rat anterior pituitary membranes using three heterobifunctional cross-linking agents, N-5-azido-2-nitrobenzoyloxysuccinimide, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-4-azidobenzoate, and N-succinimidyl-6-(4'-azido-2'-nitrophenylamino) hexanoate, and the homobifunctional agent disuccinimidyl suberate. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis followed by autoradiography revealed two SRIF-binding proteins with apparent mol wt (Mr) of 69,000 and 66,000 that were selectively labeled by the four cross-linking agents. When cross-linking was performed with N-5-azido-2-nitrobenzoyloxysuccinimide, both proteins migrated as a broad band centered at 68,000; however, with N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-4-azidobenzoate, the band was resolved into 69,000 and 66,000 Mr components. N-Succinimidyl-6-(4'-azido-2'-nitrophenylamino) hexanoate covalently labeled the 69,000 Mr protein and a minor species with a Mr of 45,000-47,000. Cross-linking with disuccinimidyl suberate labeled only the 66,000 Mr band. Labeling of both bands was specific, since affinity labeling with each of the four agents was abolished when 1 microM cyclic SRIF was included in the binding reaction. Binding of [125I-Tyr11]SRIF to membranes and labeling of the 69,000 and 66,000 Mr SRIF-binding species were similarly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by unlabeled SRIF. Radiolabeling of both proteins was specifically displaced by 1 microM SRIF-28 and [D-Trp8,D-Cys14]SRIF, but not by oxytocin. Moreover, the extent of radiolabel incorporation into both components was dependent on the concentration of [125I-Tyr11]SRIF in the binding reaction. These results demonstrate the presence of two SRIF-binding proteins in rat anterior pituitary membranes that show characteristics of the SRIF receptor.
3. Identification of the glucagon receptor in rat liver membranes by photoaffinity crosslinking
P F Pilch, V I MacAndrew Jr, G L Johnson Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 1981 Feb;78(2):875-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.2.875.
The photoaffinity crosslinker hydroxysuccinimidyl-p-azidobenzoate was used to attach (125)I-labeled glucagon covalently to a rat liver membrane protein of M(r) approximately 53,000. Membranes that had been incubated with (125)I-labeled glucagon were treated in the dark with hydroxysuccinimidyl-p-azidobenzoate, and a covalent complex was then formed by irradiation with ultraviolet light. Characteristics of (125)I-labeled glucagon binding and covalent attachment to the M(r) 53,000 peptide were consistent with this peptide being a component of the glucagon receptor involved in the activation of adenylate cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1]. Binding and covalent attachment of (125)I-labeled glucagon to the M(r) 53,000 peptide were inhibited by glucagon concentrations that were within the dose-response curve for adenylate cyclase activation, and GTP specifically decreased the photoaffinity crosslinking of (125)I-labeled glucagon to the M(r) 53,000 peptides. Insulin did not compete for the photoaffinity crosslinking of (125)I-labeled glucagon. The same technique of photoaffinity crosslinking that covalently attached (125)I-labeled glucagon to the M(r) 53,000 peptide with an efficiency of 1-2% can be used to attach (125)I-labeled insulin covalently to a M(r) 125,000 peptide with an efficiency of approximately 10%. This peptide has been shown to be a subunit of the high-affinity insulin-binding site in rat liver membranes. The technique of photoaffinity crosslinking with agents like hydroxysuccinimidyl-p-azidobenzoate provides a rapid, simple method of covalently attaching ligands to their putative receptors. Photoaffinity crosslinking does not require chemical modification of the labeled ligand and has a less stringent requirement for specific reactive groups than the commonly used bifunctional crosslinking reagents.
