Competitive Inhibition Of [ 3 H]Dexamethasone Binding to Mammary Glucocorticoid Receptor by Leupeptin

Abstract

The Inhibitory Effect Of Leupeptin On [³H]dexamethasone binding to the glucocorticoid receptor from lactating goat mammary cytosol has been studied. Leupeptin (10 mM) caused a significant (about 35%) inhibition of [³H]dexamethasone binding to glucocorticoid receptor. Binding inhibition is further increased following filtration of unlabeled cytosolic receptor through a Bio-Gel A 0.5-m column. Binding inhibition was partially reversed by monothioglycerol at 10 mM concentration. A double reciprocal plot revealed that leupeptin appears to be a competitive inhibitor of [³H]dexamethasone binding to the glucocorticoid receptor. Low salt sucrose density gradient centrifugation revealed that the leupeptin-treated sample formed a slightly larger (approximately 9 S) receptor complex (leupeptin-free complex sediments at 8 S).