Interactions of oxytocin and vasopressin with bovine neurophysins I and II. Effects of hormone binding on the protein quaternary structure: a simple model.

The effects of hormone binding on the reversible monomer in equilibrium dimer equilibrium of bovine neurophysins I or II in solution have been studied by sedimentation equilibrium measurements performed in conjunction with equilibrium dialysis experiments. Under normal solution conditions saturating amounts of oxytocin displace the neurophysin dimerization equilibrium toward the associated form of the protein to give a dimeric complex with two oxytocin molecules bound per dimer. Vasopressin exerts different influences on this oligomerization process. At low fractional saturation this ligand exhibits a behavior similar to oxytocin with a higher affinity for the neurophysin dimer than the monomer. But in contrast, at higher fractional saturation, vasopressin strongly displaces the aggregation equilibrium toward a monomeric complex bearing two vasopressin molecules. However, in the presence of a high concentration of LiCl two oxytocin molecules are bound per neurophysin protomer (10,000 daltons). These observations, together with earlier data for vasopressin binding, suggest that each neurophysin molecule possesses two structurally distinct hormone binding sites. These observations can be rationalized in a simple schematic model of hormone binding to neurophysin in which oxytocin favors a dimeric form with one hormone binding site available per 10,000 daltons while vasopressin favors the monomeric form with two hormone binding sites available per 10,000 daltons.