A sensitive equilibrium binding assay for soluble beta-adrenergic receptors.

An equilibrium binding assay has been developed for digitonin-solubilized beta-adrenergic receptors using 125 I-pindolol (IPIN) as a radioligand. Up to 50% of the beta-adrenergic receptors from rat lung membranes could be solubilized using 1% digitonin. Following incubation of soluble fractions with IPIN at 25 degree, protein associated radioactivity was identified by column chromatography using Sephadex G-50. The solubilized receptors bound IPIN with properties similar but not identical to those of the membrane bound receptor. The Kd determined for IPIN binding to soluble receptors was 113 pM while the Kd for membrane associated receptors was 36 pM. The rate constant for association (k1) of IPIN was 0.15x10(9) M-1 for soluble receptors and 2.2x10(9) M-1 min-1 for lung membrane receptors. The rate constant for dissociation (k2) was 0.025 min-1 for soluble receptors and 0.048 min-1 for membrane receptors. Agonists and antagonist of beta-adrenergic receptors inhibited in a stereoselective manner the binding of IPIN to both soluble and membrane bound receptors. The affinities of individual drugs determined for soluble receptors were similar to those determined for membrane receptors. Not only could digitonin-solubilized receptors be identified in soluble preparations from rat lung, but also from rat cerebral cortex and liver, and from L6 muscle, C6 rat glioma, and 1321N1 astrocytoma cell membranes.