Low affinity binding sites for 1,4-dihydropyridines in mitochondria and in guinea pig ventricular membranes

In this paper, we describe the occurrence of both high and low affinity sites for dihydropyridines in crude membrane preparations from guinea pig ventricular tissue. The physiological significance of the low affinity site (apparent dissociation constant = 76 +/- 9 nM) is not currently known; it has, however, a binding capacity which was 300-1000 times that of the high affinity site and was resistant to heat denaturation. The magnitude of the binding to the low affinity site was affected by both the ionic strength of the medium and by the presence of divalent ions. Both unlabeled nitrendipine and nimodipine inhibited [3H]nitrendipine binding at both sites, but verapamil and diltiazem only affected binding at the high affinity site. We also characterized, both kinetically and by equilibrium binding, a low affinity, heat-stable nitrendipine binding site in purified mitochondria. The Bmax for this site was also dependent on ionic strength. This suggests the possibility that the low affinity site in crude membranes is due to mitochondrial contaminants and hence not directly related to voltage-dependent calcium channels.