Identification and characterization of type A endothelin receptors in MMQ cells

Recently the identification of endothelin (ET) receptors and ET in the pituitary gland has induced much interest in studying the potential role of ET in neuroendocrine regulation. MMQ, isolated from rat pituitary, is a prolactin-secreting cell line. Similar to primary pituitary cells, the secretory response in MMQ cells is regulated by calcium and cAMP. In this report, by combining radioligand binding, cross-linking, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques, we characterized the properties of ET receptors in MMQ cells. 125I-ET-1 bound to membranes prepared from MMQ cells in a time-dependent manner, reaching a plateau at 150 min at 25 degrees. 125I-ET-1 binding was inhibited by ET-1 with an IC50 value of 0.17 nM but was only partially (approximately 60%) inhibited by 1 microM ET-3. BQ123 (cyclo[D-Trp-D-Asp-Pro-D-Val-Leu]) and FR139317 (cC6N-L-Leu-D-Trp-Me-D-2Pya-OH), two antagonists that are selective for the ETA receptor, inhibited 125I-ET-1 binding with IC50 values of 5 nM and 0.9 nM, respectively. RT-PCR detected mRNA for the ETA receptor but not the ETB receptor. RT-PCR detected mRNA for both ETA and ETB receptors in control experiments using rat kidney RNA. 125I-ET-1 binding was saturable, reaching a plateau at 0.1 nM. Scatchard analysis of the data from saturation studies yielded a straight line, with Bmax and Kd values of 0.11 pmol/mg and 0.038 nM, respectively. The number of receptors was 6.6 x 10(10) sites/mg of protein or 13,200 sites/cell. Cross-linking studies using bis(sulfosuccinimidyl)suberate revealed an apparent molecular mass of 65 kDa for the ET receptor. Labeling of the 65-kDa protein was abolished by ET-1, BQ123, or FR139317 at 0.1 microM. ET-1 stimulated the formation of total inositol phosphates in a dose-dependent manner, with an EC50 of 0.1 nM. The phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis response was also inhibited by BQ123 and FR139317. We conclude that MMQ cells express the ETA receptor, which is coupled to phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis. MMQ cells may be useful for elucidating the mechanisms through which ET exerts its regulatory effects on pituitary cells.