N-Hydroxysuccinimidyl-4-azidobenzoate

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.

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.

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.