Receptor binding profiles of amiloride analogues provide no evidence for a link between receptors and the Na+/H+ exchanger, but indicate a common structure on receptor proteins.

Amiloride and its analogues affect radioligand binding to the adenosine-A1 receptor. In this paper, the specificity of this effect is investigated by generating receptor binding profiles for amiloride and two of its analogues. A limited structure-activity relationships study is performed to probe the relationship between inhibition of receptor binding by amiloride analogues and the effects of these compounds on Na+ transport, in particular Na+/H+ exchange. The receptor binding profiles of amiloride, benzamil and 5'-(N,N-hexamethylene)amiloride (HMA) indicate that the compounds affect a variety of receptors and that none of the compounds is highly selective for any of these. The SAR study indicates that it is very unlikely that a direct coupling between receptors and Na+/H+ exchange or another amiloride-sensitive ion transport system is responsible for the inhibition of receptor binding. A correlation between the signal transduction systems coupled to the receptors involved and the potency of the amiloride analogues is also absent. The varying nature of the receptors, affected by amiloride or its analogues, suggests a wide-spread presence of an amiloride binding site on receptors and other membrane proteins.