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The cytosol fraction of rat pancreas [100,000 X g (for 1 h) supernatant] demonstrated specific but nonsaturable binding of [3H]estradiol in the concentration range of 2-50 X 10(-9) M. Scatchard analysis of specifically bound [3H]estradiol, determined by the isotope dilution technique (competition with excess unlabeled estradiol), indicated a single class of binding sites (approximately 4.4 pmol/mg protein) with an apparent Kd of 5 X 10(-8) M. Such cytosol fractions, prepared from homogenates that contained protease inhibitors, when prelabeled with [3H]estradiol, demonstrated a single sharp eluate peak of radioactivity after Sephadex G-200 chromatography that corresponded to a molecular weight of 120,000. When protease inhibitors were omitted, [3H]estradiol was associated with material of considerably lower molecular weight. Routinely, the protease inhibitors leupeptin (1 mM), phenylsulfonyl fluoride (0.5 mM), and tosylphenylalanylchloromethyl ketone (0.05 mM) were included in the buffer used for homogenizing both the pancreas and uterus. The protein that binds [3H]estradiol in uterus differed from that in pancreas in a number of ways: 1) in the range of 10-20 X 10(-9) M [3H]estradiol, specific binding of the hormone to uterine sites was saturable, and Scatchard analysis indicated a single class of binding sites, (approximately 0.5 pmol/mg protein) having an apparent Kd of 3 X 10(-10) M; 2) the rate constants of dissociation of the [3H] estradiol-bound complexes in pancreas and uterus were 3.1 X 10(-4) sec-1 (t1/2, 37 min) and 8.7 X 10(-5) sec-1 (t1/2, 134 min), respectively; 3) the molecular weight of the estrogen-binding protein in freshly prepared uterine supernatant fractions appeared to be at least 240,000; this was unaltered regardless of whether protease inhibitors were present during initial homogenization of the tissue; and 4) when uterine supernatants prepared in the absence of protease inhibitors were kept at 8 C for 24 h and then analyzed by Sephadex G-200 chromatography, a second peak of [3H]estradiol-binding activity appeared at the same eluate volume as the low molecular weight binding fractions of pancreas. These data suggest that although the binding proteins in pancreas and uterus are different, there may be some common features at the hormone-binding locus

The cytosol fraction of rat pancrease can bind [3H] estradiol specifically and extensively. In contrast to the rat uterus, the binding protein in pancreas requires an accessory factor as a coligand in the steroid-binding reaction. Removal of this accessory factor by passage of the cytosol through CM Affi-Gel blue columns renders eluate fractions virtually incompetent with respect to binding of [3H]estradiol (10 nM). Certain synthetic oligopeptides such as N-benzoyl-L-argininyl-p-nitroanilide, as well as an endogenous accessory factor, can reactivate binding of [3H]estradiol. Thus, localization of the protein that binds [3H]estradiol following chromatography with CM Affi-Gel blue columns can be determined readily by assaying eluate fractions in the absence and presence of either accessory factor or N-benzoyl-L-argininyl-p-nitroanilide. Addition of somatostatin (tetradecapeptide referred to as SRIF14; somatotropin release inhibiting factor) to the activatable, but incompetent, eluate fractions, also enhanced binding of [3H]estradiol. The effect of SRIF14 was biphasic. The threshold concentration required for activation of [3H]estradiol binding was about 1 microM, and maximal stimulation occurred at 25 microM. At higher concentrations of SRIF14, binding declined and reached basal levels at about 75 microM. The concentrations of somatostatin required for activation of binding of [3H]estradiol in vivo may be lower than those indicated above since 1) preparations containing [3H]estradiol-binding protein also contained an SRIF14 peptidase. Following incubation of [125I-Tyr1]SRIF14 with these preparations there was loss of binding of radiolabeled peptide with SRIF14 antiserum. 2) The biphasic nature of SRIF14 activation may reflect feedback inhibition of [3H]estradiol binding by a degradation product of SRIF14. Since SRIF14 has been identified in the delta- (or D-) islet cells of the pancreas, and in concentrations that may be in the microM range, the possibility is raised that these cells serve a paracrine function with respect to acinar cell secretion

Supernatant fractions from rat pancreas bind approximately 300 fmol of [3H]estradiol per mg of protein when incubated with 5 nM [3H]estradiol for 1 hr at room temperature. Passage through gel filtration columns reduces binding in the eluate to approximately 1% of its initial activity. Extracts of the supernatant contain a factor that reactivates binding in gel filtrates. Addition of accessory factor to fractional eluates gives one sharp peak of activity. Since fractions that cannot be reactivated contain as much or more protein as fractions that can be reactivated, it is concluded that interaction of accessory factor and [3H]estradiol-binding protein is specific. Peptides such as antipain [(1-carboxy-2-phenylethyl)carbamoyl-L-arginyl-L-valyl-L-argininal] and, especially, N-benzoyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-valyl-L-arginine-p-nitroanilide also enhanced binding of [3H]estradiol. Accessory factor is water soluble, dialyzable, and heat stable. Although as currently purified, it contains several substances, the data suggest that at least one component of accessory factor is an oligopeptide

In parallel sets of experiments, cytosol fractions from rat pancreas and uterus were incubated with 2 nM 3H-estradiol in the presence or absence of nuclei from pancreas and liver. After incubation for 1 hr at room temperature, the nuclei were removed by centrifugation and specific binding determined in the cytosol fractions as well as in the separated nuclei. The protein that binds 3H-estradiol in uterine extracts translocated the hormone to nuclei of pancreas and liver while the one in pancreas was devoid of this activity. It is presumed, therefore, that modification of transcription is not a primary action of the steroid-bound complex in pancreas