Presence of specific growth hormone binding sites in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) tissues: characterization of the hepatic receptor.

The present work outlines the presence of specific binding for chinook salmon growth hormone (sGH) in different tissue preparations of rainbow trout. Optimal incubation conditions (pH, Tris, MgCl2) were determined. Specific binding was very sensitive to salt concentration during incubation. The specific binding reached a plateau after 15 and 25 hr of incubation at 12 and 4 degrees. At 20 degrees, specific and nonspecific binding were not stable. Specific binding dissociation was slower than association and was only partial. The binding was saturable (Bmax = 187 +/- 167 pmol), of high affinity (Ka = 2.4 +/- 0.8 10(9) M-1), and very specific for GH, properties which are in agreement with the characteristics of hormonal receptors. Sea bream and mammalian GH appeared 2- and 30-fold, respectively, less potent than cold sGH2 for displacing 125I-sGH2. Tissue preparations from ovary, testis, fat, skin, cartilage, gill, blood pellet, brain, spleen, kidney, and muscle showed significant saturable binding.