Beta-Adrenergic receptors and catecholamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase of the human placenta

Beta-Adrnergic receptor and beta-adrenergic sensitive adenylate cyclase were demonstrated in membrane fractions of human placenta. Placental membranes from normal term pregnancies bound the beta-adrenergic antagonist (-)[3H]dihydroalprenolol to a single saturable class of sites (Kd = 2.31 +/- 0.23 nM; n = 9; maximal capacity, 112 +/- 9 fmol/mg). Competition for binding was stereoselective for (-)isomers of propranolol, and beta-adrenergic agonists displayed competition for the placental receptor in the order (-)isoproterenol greater than (-)epinephrine greater than (-)norepinephrine, typical of a beta 2 type receptor. Beta-Adrenergic receptor was present in placental tissue as early as 10 weeks gestational age, and binding capacity decreased slightly with advancing gestation. [3H]Dihydroalprenolol binding was coupled to epinephrine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity throughout gestation. The subcellular distribution of both beta-adrenergic receptors and epinephrine-stimulated adenylate cyclase suggest their localization primarily in nonbrush border membrane fractions, presumably from plasma membranes more closely related to the fetal rather than to the maternal circulation. Epinephrine-sensitive adenylate cyclase was not present in purified brush border preparations which were directly exposed to maternal blood in the intervillous space.