Response of toad urinary bladder to vasopressin analogs possessing V1 or V2 specificity

The urinary bladder of the toad Bufo marinus has been used to examine the effect on sodium transport, measured by short-circuit current, of natural antidiuretic hormones and several synthetic peptide analogs. In mammals, these synthetic analogs show specificity for different receptors, designated V1 and V2 receptors, whose biological responses are mediated by phosphatidyl inositol breakdown products or adenylate cyclase activity, respectively. All analogs stimulated SCC, with relative potencies AVT greater than AVP greater than Phe2 OVT (V1 agonist) much greater than d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP (V1 antagonist) = d(CH2)5[D-Ile2,Abu4]AVP (V2 antagonist). The V1 and V2 antagonists inhibited the SCC response to AVT and Phe2OVT, with similar inhibitory potencies. We conclude that the stimulation of sodium transport by antidiuretic hormones involves one hormone receptor which does not show the selectivity of mammalian antidiuretic hormone receptors, and may represent a more primitive type of receptor.