Optimal conditions for [3H]apomorphine binding and anomalous equilibrium binding of [3H]apomorphine and [3H]spiperone to rat striatal membranes: involvement of surface phenomena versus multiple binding sites.

I. Binding of [3H] apomorphine to dopaminergic receptors in rat striatum was most reproducible and clearly detectable when incubations were run at 25 degrees C in Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.5, containing 1 mM-EDTA and 0.01% ascorbic acid, using a washed total-membrane fraction. The receptor binding was stereospecifically inhibited by (+)-butaclamol, and dopamine agonists and antagonists showed high binding affinity for these sites. Unlabelled apomorphine inhibited an additional nonstereospecific binding site, which was unrelated to dopamine receptors. EDTA in the incubation mixture considerably lowered nonstereospecific [3H]apomorphine binding, apparently by preventing the complexation of the catechol moiety with metal ions which were demonstrated in membrane preparations. Stereospecific [3H]apomorphine binding was not detectable in the frontal cortex, whereas in the absence of EDTA much saturable nonstereospecific binding occurred. II. Kinetic patterns of stereospecific [3H]spiperone and [3H]apomorphine binding to rat striatal membranes and the inhibition patterns of a dopamine antagonist and an agonist were evaluated at different temperatures in high-ionic-strength Tris buffer with salts added and low-ionic-strength Tris buffer with EDTA. Apparent KD values of spiperone decreased with decreasing tissue concentrations. KD values of both spiperone and apomorphine were little influenced by temperature changes. Scatchard plots of the stereospecific binding changed from linear to curved; the amount of nonstereospecific binding of the 3H ligands varied considerably, but in opposite directions for spiperone and apomorphine in the different buffers. In various assay conditions, interactions between agonists, and between antagonists, appeared fully competitive, but agonist-antagonist interactions were of mixed type. The anomalous binding patterns are interpreted in terms of surface phenomena occurring upon reactions of a ligand with complex physicochemical properties and nonsolubilized sites on membranes suspended in a buffered aqueous solution. It is concluded that anomalous binding patterns are not necessarily an indication of binding to multiple sites or involvement of distinct receptors for high-affinity agonist and antagonist binding.