Guanine nucleotides regulate specifically agonist-binding affinity of the alpha 2-adrenergic receptor in white adipocytes

Modulation by sex hormones of the membranous transducing system regulating fatty acid mobilization in adipose tissue

This review summarizes recent animal studies performed to determine the possible role played by sex hormones in the sex- and site-related differences characterizing adipocyte lipolytic activity. In both normal female rats and male hamsters, fat cells from deep intra-abdominal sites elicit higher catecholamine-stimulated lipolytic responses than subcutaneous adipocytes. By using ovariectomized rats, it was found that estradiol 'in vivo', while having no effect in subcutaneous cells, promotes catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis in deep intraabdominal adipocytes by increasing their adenylate cyclase catalytic activity. By using castrated hamsters, it was found that both deep intra-abdominal and subcutaneous fat cell lipolytic activities are equally sensitive to testosterone. In these cells, testosterone treatment promotes not only the beta-adrenergic lipolytic responses by increasing both the adenylate cyclase catalytic activity and the Gs alpha level, but also enhances the alpha 2-adrenergic antilipolytic responses through a transcriptional activation of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor expression. These experiments demonstrate that in some, but not all, white adipocytes the adrenergic signal transducing system regulating lipolysis is a target for sex hormones. This finding may have potential importance in the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the sex-related regional specificities of adipose tissue metabolism and distribution.

Characteristics of beta-adrenergic-agonist binding to rat adipocyte membranes. Evidence that (+/-)-[3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol interacts selectively with the adipocyte beta-adrenergic receptors

The binding characteristics of the beta-adrenergic agonist (+/)-[3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol to rat adipocyte membranes were studied. Binding was rapid, reaching equilibrium within 10 min at 37 degrees C (second order rate constant K1 = 1.37 . 10(7) . M-1 . min-1). Dissociation of specific binding by 0.5 mM (-)-isoproterenol suggested dissociation from two different sites with respective dissociation rate constants k2 of 0.106 . min-1 and 0.011 . min-1 . [3H]Hydroxybenzylisoproterenol binding was saturable (Bmax = 690 +/- 107 fmol/mg protein), yielding curvilinear Scatchard plots. Computer modeling of these data were consistent with the existence of two classes of [3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol binding sites, one having high affinity (KD = 3.5 +/- 0.7 nM) but low binding capacity (10% of the total sites) and one having low affinity (KD = 101 +/- 20 nM) but high binding capacity (90% of the sites). Adrenergic ligands competed with [3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol binding with the following order of potency = (-)-propranolol greater than (-)-isoproterenol greater than (-)-norepinephrine approximately (-)-epinephrine greater than greater than (+)-isoproterenol = (+)-propranolol, which is consistent with binding to beta 1-adrenergic receptors. Competition curves of [3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol binding by the beta-agonist (-)-isoproterenol were shallow and modeled to two affinity states of binding, whereas, competition curves by beta-antagonist (-)-propranolol were steeper with Hill number near to one. Gpp[NH]p severely reduced [3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol binding, an effect which apparently resulted from the reduction of the number of both the high and low affinity sites. In membranes which had been previously exposed to (-)-isoproterenol, the number of [3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol binding sites was reduced by 50%, an effect which apparently resulted from the loss of part of both the high and low affinity state binding sites. Finally, the ability of (-)-isoproterenol to stimulate adenylate cyclase correlated closely with the ability of (-)-isoproterenol to displace [3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol binding. Comparison of these findings with the binding characteristics of the beta-antagonist [3H]dihydroalprenolol to rat adipocyte membranes, led to conclude that [3H]hydroxybenzylisoproterenol can be successfully used to label the beta-adrenergic receptors of rat fat cells and suggests that it might be a better ligand than [3H]dihydroalprenolol in these cells.