Intracellular pathways of receptor-bound GnRH agonist in pituitary gonadotropes

Localization of GnRH receptors in rat pituitary gonadotropes was studied by use of 125I-[azidobenzoyl-D-Lys6]GnRH which, upon photolysis, is covalently bound to the receptor molecule. Using high resolution autoradiography, it was found that, after a 90-min incubation of the analog with pituitary cells at 4 degrees C, 93% of the silver grains were associated with the plasma membrane of the gonadotropes. After 45-min incubation of the cells at 37 degrees C, clustering and internalization of the receptor-bound GnRH analog were evident. Silver grains were associated with coated pits, intracellular vesicles, Golgi complexes, lysosome-like structures and secretory granules. The data indicate that receptor-bound GnRH agonist is internalized, at least in part, via coated pits and is subsequently routed to lysosomes where degradation of the hormone-receptor complex may occur. The presence of a considerable amount of silver grains associated with secretory granules may suggest that some of the internalized receptor molecules can escape degradation and be recycled to the cell membrane.