Selected polyclonal antibodies and ADH challenge in frog urinary bladder: a label-fracture study

It is clearly established that the changes induced by antidiuretic hormone (ADH) in its target epithelial cells result from the insertion in the apical membrane of new components that contain channels for water. We have already undertaken an initial study of these channels by raising polyclonal antibodies against Triton X-100 apical extracts from ADH-treated bladders and approached their purification by different adsorption steps. In the present study, we used the label-fracture technique to investigate the localization of the binding sites of the obtained polyclonal antibodies on the apical membrane of ADH-stimulated frog urinary bladder. The results obtained clearly demonstrated a preferential labeling by the selected antibodies of morphological structures such as the groove arrays and the fusion images that are generally accepted as being involved in ADH-induced changes in water permeability of the apical membrane.