Cytoplasmic and nuclear progesterone receptors in the guinea pig uterus

Although progesterone receptors have been studied in the uterine cytoplasm of many species, relatively little was known about the nuclear content of these binding proteins. In the present study, a nuclear progesterone receptor was deteced in the guinea pig uterus. The binding of progesterone to the nuclear receptor was hormone and tissue specific. Furthermore, the nuclear localization of the progesterone receptor complex in the uterus was both time and temperature dependent. Since the nuclear receptor was extracted in high salt buffer, the effects of KCl on several physical properties of the cytoplasmic and nuclear binders were studied. In the presence of high salt, cytosol and nuclear receptors were virtually indistinguishable. These proteins were clearly distinguished upon removal of the KCl by rapid dialysis: the nuclear receptor had a slower sedimentation rate, a faster rate of dissociation and a higher binding affinity than did the cytosol receptor for progesterone. We conclude that the cytosol and nuclear receptors for progesterone in the guinea pig uterus are distinct macromolecules. These observations are consistent with the postulate that the cytoplasmic receptor is a precursor of that in the nucleus.