enkephalin--ala(2)-mephe(4)-gly(5)- and tyrosyl-threonyl-glycyl-(4-azidophenylalanyl)-leucyl-threonine

The binding kinetics and pharmacological selectivity of the photoaffinity delta-opioid ligand [125I]azido-DTLET (Tyr-D-Thr-Gly-Phe(pN3)-Leu-Thr) were investigated in serial frozen sections from rat neostriatum prior to ultraviolet irradiation (i.e., in conditions of reversibility). Scatchard analysis of saturation binding experiments indicated that [125I]azido-DTLET binds to both a high (KD = 5.04 nM) and a low (KD = 38 nM) affinity site. Binding to the low-affinity site was no longer detectable in the presence of unlabeled [D-Ala2,N-MePhe4,Gly-Ol5]enkephalin (DAGO), suggesting that this site corresponds to mu-opioid receptors. This interpretation was further supported by the dose-dependent inhibition of the binding of [3H]DAGO by non-radioactive azido-DTLET. Binding to the high-affinity site was totally inhibited, in a dose-dependent fashion, by a variety of opioid drugs among which delta-opioid ligands showed the highest order of potency. It is concluded that, in the nanomolar range, [125I]azido-DTLET constitutes a highly selective tool for covalent labeling of delta-opioid receptors in rat brain sections.

Topics: Affinity Labels; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Azides; Binding, Competitive; Corpus Striatum; Enkephalin, Ala(2)-MePhe(4)-Gly(5)-; Enkephalins; Iodine Radioisotopes; Male; Molecular Sequence Data; Oligopeptides; Radioligand Assay; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Opioid, delta

The photoaffinity ligand of the delta opioid receptor Tyr-D-Thr-Gly-pN3Phe-Leu-Thr (azido-DTLET) was iodinated and purified by high performance liquid chromatography. Monoiodo-azido-DTLET displayed a high affinity (KD = 15 nM) and is selective (Kl mu/Kl delta = 9.8) for rat brain delta opioid receptors (for comparison, the corresponding values for tritiated azido-DTLET are KD = 1.66 nM and Kl mu/Kl delta = 27). On rat brain sections, the anatomical distribution of [125I]azido-DTLET binding sites revealed by autoradiography corresponds to that of delta receptors. On rat brain membrane homogenates and NG108-15 hybrid cells, UV irradiation of the receptor-ligand complex results in the irreversible binding to membrane proteins of 14% of the bound radioactivity Gel electrophoresis of [125I]azido-DTLET-labeled proteins followed by autoradiography shows a different pattern in rat brain and NG108-15 cells. In rat brain, labeling of two of these proteins, with molecular weights of 44,000 and 34,000, was inhibited by 30 nmol/liter of nonradioactive DTLET, a delta-selective ligand but not by the same concentration of [D-Ala2,N-Me-Phe4,Gly5-ol]-enkephalin, a mu-selective ligand. In NG108-15 cells, this 44-kDa protein was not visualized; the main band was at 33 kDa and disappeared in the presence of levorphanol.

Topics: Affinity Labels; Animals; Azides; Brain; Cell Line; Enkephalin, Ala(2)-MePhe(4)-Gly(5)-; Enkephalins; In Vitro Techniques; Ligands; Mice; Oligopeptides; Photochemistry; Rats; Receptors, Opioid; Receptors, Opioid, delta