Kappa-opioid receptor from human placenta: hydrodynamic characteristics and evidence for its association with a G protein

The kappa nature of opioid binding sites in a brush border membrane (BBM) fraction from human placenta has been confirmed: these sites display considerably higher apparent affinity for the kappa selective ligand U-50488 than they do for the μ and δ selective ligands enkephalin and enkephalyl-Thr, respectively. Two lines of evidence indicated that the placental kappa opioid receptor is capable of interacting with a guanine nucleotide regulatory (G) protein: (i) equilibrium binding of the angonist 3H-etorphine in the BBM fraction was clearly inhibited by 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p), especially in the presence of Na+ ions while binding of the antagonist 3H-diprenorphine was significantly less so and (ii) the sedimentation velocity of the kappa opioid receptor was decreased down to about 10 S when the BBM fraction was prelabeled with radioligand in the presence of Gpp(NH)p prior to its solubilization with digitonin. The G protein that mediates the effect of Gpp(NH)p might be neither G/sub s/ nor G/sub i/ since no adenylate cyclase activity could be demonstrated in the BBM fraction from human placenta