Characterization of specific receptors for calcitonin in porcine lung

Abstract

The binding of salmon calcitonin was investigated in subcellular fractions obtained from normal porcine lung. Only the membrane fraction (density, 1.14 g/cm3) showed specific binding for calcitonin. Specific binding of 125I-labeled salmon calcitonin was competitively inhibited by concentrations of unlabeled homologous hormone in the range 0.01-1 nM. Half-maximal inhibition of binding was observed with 0.12 nM salmon calcitonin. Scatchard analysis of the data suggested the presence of one class of binding sites with a mean affinity constant of 0.9 X 10(10) M-1 and a mean receptor number of 40 X 10(8)/mg of protein. The binding of salmon calcitonin was highly specific; half-maximal inhibition of binding was observed with 63.8 nM bovine calcitonin, the hormone corticotropin having no effect in this system.