The melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) receptor in M2R mouse melanoma tumours: solubilization and properties of the receptor-MSH complex and its covalently crosslinked conjugate.

Several properties of the MSH receptor in solid melanotic and amelanotic mouse M2R tumour isografts were studied in C57BL mice. Using cell membrane fractions prepared from such tumours and the superpotent [Nle4,D-Phe7]alpha MSH analogue, the affinity and receptor contents of the two tumour variants were found to be similar. When occupied by MSH, the receptor-MSH complex (R.MSH) was readily soluble in cholate. In the solubilized form, R.MSH was extremely stable and dissociated to an extent of only 30% within 12 days at 4 degrees C. While this high stability can be maintained in the pH range of 7.0-8.5, the solubilized R.MSH complex becomes increasingly unstable below pH 7.0 and totally dissociates at a pH < 6.0. In the membrane-bound form, the R.MSH complex shows a parallel pH stability profile which is shifted down by approximately two pH units. In addition to low pH, the R.MSH complex becomes unstable and totally dissociates in the presence of 10 mM EGTA, suggesting that the calcium-sensitive function of the receptor is still associated with the receptor in the detergent-soluble state. The R.MSH complexes in the soluble and membrane-bound forms are also totally resistant to proteolytic digestion by V8 protease, but were slowly digested by trypsin. Treatment of R.MSH with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylamino-propyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride or bis (sulphosuccinimidyl) suberate led to covalent crosslinking of MSH to the receptor molecule. The electrophoretic mobility on SDS-PAGE of the 43/46 kD doublet of the receptor-MSH conjugate (R*MSH) was identical to the photoaffinity labelled MSH receptor product described earlier in cultured M2R cells. However, the efficiency of production of the crosslinked product was approximately 30%, much higher than that achieved previously by photoaffinity labelling. Using rabbit polyclonal anti-alpha MSH antibodies, the R*MSH conjugate was identifiable on Western immunoblots. These results provide a basis for further development of procedures for purification of the MSH receptor molecule and studying its protein structure.

Signaling mechanisms controlled by melanocortins in melanoma, lacrimal, and brain astroglial cells.

Melanocortins appear to be involved as regulators in an ever growing number of physiological processes in cells and tissues of diverse functions. While such trends are apparent also in the case of other peptide hormones, it appears that melanocortin receptors can be regarded as unique among G-protein-linked receptors due to their special need for extracellular Ca2+ which may relate to some, yet undetermined selectivity of their actions. The physiological role that Ca2+ may be playing and the diverse signaling mechanisms regulated, as well as the nature of the cell-specific responses elicited in melanocortin-sensitive cells/tissues, have yet to be elucidated. Likewise, it will be of interest to establish the relationship of melanocortins to processes like growth and differentiation of cells, as well as to higher, more complex processes such as those regulated in the CNS.

The melanocortin receptor in the rat lacrimal gland: a model system for the study of MSH (melanocyte stimulating hormone) as a potential neurotransmitter.

The melanocortin receptors in intraorbital and extraorbital rat lacrimal glands were studied with [125I][Nle4,D-Phe7]alpha MSH as radioligand and with several unlabeled melanocortin peptides. The pharmacological properties of the melanocortin receptor in both tissues appeared to be essentially identical. Receptor binding was studied in a membrane fraction sedimented at 12,000-100,000 X g, establishing for [125I][Nle4,D-Phe7]alpha MSH a KD of 0.76 and 2.2 nM for the intra- and extraorbital glands, respectively. Binding of the radioligand was competitively inhibited by alpha MSH (alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone) and ACTH-(1-24) with IC50 values in the submicromolar range. MSH binding in both tissues was abolished by EGTA and was increased dose dependently with elevation of free Ca2+ ion concentration. The half-maximal effect on MSH binding was obtained around 200 microM Ca2+ and maximal binding was reached at nearly 2 mM free Ca2+ in membrane preparations from both tissues. The calmodulin-binding peptides, melittin, mastoparan and M5, the latter being the 18-amino acid synthetic analogue of the C-terminal calmodulin-binding domain of myosin light chain kinase, inhibited MSH binding in the concentration range of 1-20 microM. Macroscopic autoradiographic analysis of cryosections prepared from either lacrimal gland to which [125I][Nle4,D-Phe7]alpha MSH was subsequently bound, showed the melanocortin receptor to be uniformly distributed within the acinar lobes. At the microscopic level, MSH was found to be associated with the acinar cells, primarily at the basal perinuclear region. Peroxidase secretion from extraorbital lacrimal slices was stimulated by MSH, epinephrine and carbamylcholine to a similar extent. The response of the tissue to stimulation by MSH was however not blocked by alpha/beta-adrenoceptor blockers or by atropine, suggesting that MSH acts as a primary secretagogue in this tissue. Thus, this system seems to be uniquely suited to serve as a model for the study of both the molecular and pharmacological details of the action of MSH and other melanocortins in a non-melanogenic tissue.

Involvement of the K and I regions of the H-2 complex in resistance to hemopoietic allografts.

Irradiated (H-2b X H-2k)F1 and (H-2b X H-2d)F1 recipients strongly resist the growth of H-2b parental bone marrow cells and do not resist marrow grafts from non-H-2b parents such as C3H and BALB/c. This phenomenon of hybrid resistance has been shown to be under genetic control of the H-2D-linked loci and was interpreted by Cudkowicz (9) as due to the existence of H-2D-linked recessive hemopoietic histocompatibility genes. To check whether the H-2D-linked loci are solely responsible for the fate of bone marrow allografts, we measured the strength of resistance of irradiated (B6 X C3H)F1 and (B6 X BALB/c)F1 recipients toward bone marrow grafts from a set of H-2 recombinant and F1 hybrid donors carrying either the H-2b, H-2d, and H-2k alleles. We found that growth of all H-2b grafts was resisted, although to different degrees. Resistance was minimal when donors shared with the input strain of a corresponding F1 hybrid the H-2K and H-2I regions, or when both F1 donors and F1 recipients formed identical unique hybrid Ia molecules. In addition, H-2b grafts were resisted by congenic, H-2D-identical, H-2K-and H-2I-incompatible recipients. The fate of grafts from H-2Dd donors seemed to depend on the incompatibility of the combinatorial determinant Ia.22. If both donor and recipient expressed such a determinant (either in the cis or in the transposition), or if neither could form such a determinant, grafts were not resisted. The H-2Dk allele is not the main or only factor that confers on the C3H parental bone marrow cells the ability to grow unresisted in (B6 X C3H)F1 recipients. Grafts from congenic C3H.OH donors, carrying the same H-2Dk alleles and differing in the left part of the H-2 complex, were resisted by the F1 recipients. We conclude that both class I (K and D) and class II (I-A and I-E) major histocompatibility complex genes, rather than hypothetical hemopoietic histocompatibility genes control hemopoietic resistance. To reconcile codominant inheritance of classic H-2 antigens with the apparent recessive inheritance of hybrid resistance, we assume that there exist parental determinants that are not formed in some F1 hybrids due to preferential association of either Ia alpha chains with allogeneic beta chains or of class I antigens with allogeneic or hybrid class II restriction elements.