Tissue-specific differences in the compartmentalization of rat nuclear triiodothyronine receptors

In addition to the recognized rat liver nuclear T3 receptor extractable with hypertonic salt, recent studies have described nucleoplasmic receptors extractable with isotonic KCl and salt-resistant receptors localized to the nuclear matrix. A method was developed for the determination of intra-nuclear receptor distribution in small samples of nuclei dispersed within glass wool matrices. After in vitro labelling with 6 nmol/l [125I]T3, dispersed nuclei were sequentially extracted with 0.15 mol/l KCl (yielding nucleoplasmic receptors), 0.4 mol/l KCl. and 2 mol/l KCl (the latter two concentrations yielding hypertonic salt-extractable receptors). The salt-resistant receptors were retained within the glass wool columns. The intra-nuclear distribution of in vivo labelled receptors was very similar to that obtained by in vitro labelling. The equilibrium association constants for L-T3 binding among the receptor pools ranged from 0.6 X 10(9) to 1.0 X 10(9) l/mol. The distribution of total nuclear receptors within each nuclear compartment was (percentage of nucleoplasmic, hypertonic salt-extractable, and salt-resistant receptors): Cerebrum: 23.6, 52.2, 24.2; Liver: 25.2, 57.2, 17.5; Kidney: 45.9, 33.5, 20.6; Testis: 65.5, 14.7, 19.7; and Spleen: 66.7, 18.7, 14.6. The rank order of percentage of hypertonic salt-extractable receptors approximates the rank order of thyroid hormone-responsiveness by traditional criteria. The inverse is true for the percentage of nucleoplasmic receptors. The percentage of salt-resistant receptors was very similar in all of the tissues.