The search for the endogenous digitalis: an alternative hypothesis.

The universal presence of a binding site for cardiac glycosides on Na+-K+-ATPase has engendered speculation as to whether it also serves as a receptor for an endogenous digitalis-like hormone or autacoid. If such a hormone were to exist, it could play a role in sodium homeostasis and in the pathophysiology of primary hypertension and uremia. However, we believe that this hypothesis rests on unproven assumptions. Although typical of many toxins and drugs, binding to a single protein that acts as both its receptor and effector mechanism at the cell membrane, thereby directly affecting transmembrane ion flux, would be unusual for a hormone or autacoid. As an alternative hypothesis for the evolutionary conservation of the cardiac glycoside binding site, we suggest that its endogenous ligand may exist within the cell. After cotranslational insertion of the alpha- and beta-subunits into the membrane of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, Na+-K+-ATPase, like most integral membrane proteins, 1) must be targeted through a complex network of intracellular organelles to the correct plasmalemmal domain, 2) must be monitored for appropriate protein conformation and subunit assembly, and perhaps 3) could have its catalytic function regulated before insertion in the cell membrane. Because the lumina of the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and other organelles and vesicles are topologically equivalent to the outside of the cell, all three functions could be subserved by an intraorganellar ligand for the cardiac glycoside binding site.