Cell nuclear accumulation of estrogen receptors in rat brain and pituitary gland after treatment with a dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor.

In a recent experiment, it was found that the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor, U-14,624, decreases the concentration of cytosol progestin receptors in guinea pig hypothalamus and causes an increase in the concentration of nuclear progestin receptors. In this series of experiments, the possibility that similar effects would be seen in the rat estrogen receptor system in mediobasal hypothalamus and pituitary was tested. U-14,624 caused a time-dependent decrease in the concentration of cytosol estrogen receptors and increase in the concentration of nuclear estrogen receptors in both mediobasal hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland in ovariectomized rats, both in the absence and presence of low levels of estradiol, as well as in ovariectomized-adrenalectomized rats. The nuclear estrogen receptors that accumulate after U-14,624 injection do not require incubation at 25 degrees C to be assayed, suggesting that they are not occupied by an estradiol-like ligand. The nuclear estrogen receptors that accumulate after U-14,624 treatment are high affinity, with an apparent dissociation constant of approximately 0.1 nM. U-14,624 does not compete with (3H)estradiol, in vitro, suggesting that it does not directly interact with estrogen receptors. These results suggest that under some conditions, inhibition of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase causes a modification in unoccupied estrogen receptors so that they develop a higher affinity for cell nuclear components.