Physicochemical differences between glucocorticoid-binding components from the corticoid-sensitive and -resistant strains of mouse lymphoma P1798.

The physicochemical properties of nuclear and cytosolic glucocorticoid-binding components from corticoid-sensitive (CS) and corticoid-resistant (CR) mouse lymphoma P1798 cells have been compared. Nuclei or cytosol fractions were prepared from lymphocytes that had been labeled at 37 or 4 degrees, respectively, with 30 nM [3H]triamcinolone acetonide ([3H]TA). [3H]TA was extracted with 0.6 M KCl, 10 mM spermidine, or 4.5 mM MgCl2 from CS nuclei and with 0.6 M KCl or 10 mM spermidine from CR nuclei. As reported previously, nuclear-associated [3H]TA in CR cells was resistant to extraction with mM concentrations of MgCl2. Loss of bound steroid during extraction with 0.6 M KCl was minimized by including the chymotrypsin inhibitor, carbobenzoxy-L-phenylalanine, in the extraction buffer. The inhibitor was not required during extraction with spermidine or MgCl2. Nuclear and cytosolic extracts were examined by analytical agarose gel filtration and glycerol density gradient centrifugation under high salt (0.6 M KCl) conditions. The glucocorticoid-binding component in KCl, spermidine, and MgCl2 extracts from CS nuclei was considerably larger and more asymmetrical [Stokes radius, 57 to 59 A; sedimentation coefficient, 3.64 to 3.70S; molecular weight, 90,000 daltons; frictional ratio, 1.8; axial ratio (prolate ellipsoid), 15] than the [3H]TA-macromolecular complex in KCl and spermidine extracts from CR nuclei[Stokes radius, 29 A; sedimentation coefficient, 3.23 to 3.30S; molecular weight, 40,000 daltons; frictional ratio, 1.25; axial ratio (prolate ellipsoid), 5]. Control experiments showed that the smaller size of the glucocorticoid-binding component in CR nuclei was probably not due to cleavage of a larger, CS-like complex during the extraction procedure. The larger size of the CS [3H]TA complex did not appear to result from aggregation of s a smaller species. No difference in physicochemical parameters of the binding component was observed if cells were labeled with [3H]dexamethasone instead of [3H]TA. However, [3H]dexamethasone complexes were less stable than those formed with [3H]TA as indicated by considerable dissociation of [3H]dexamethasone during gel filtration and gradient centrifugation. This may be due to the 3- to 5-fold lower relative binding affinity of [3H]dexamethasone. Analysis of [3H]TA-labeled cytosol by gel filtration and gradient centrifugation revealed the presence of a single binding component with physicochemical properties similar to those of nuclear [3H]TA complexes from the same strain of tumor. These results suggest that previously described differences in extractability of nuclear-associated [3H]TA between the CS and CR strains of mouse lymphoma P1798 and the lack of response of CR P1798 to glucocorticoid administration may be due, at least in part, to the presence of an altered glucocorticoid-binding component in the resistant tumor cells.