Interaction of [3H]arylazido aminopropionyl ATP ([3H]ANAPP3) with P2-purinergic receptors in the smooth muscle of the isolated guinea-pig vas deferens.

Following its photolysis in the presence of the isolated guinea-pig vas deferens, the ATP photoaffinity label ANAPP3 produces a specific antagonism of adenine nucleotide-induced contractile responses which are mediated by P2-purinergic receptors. To characterize the site of covalent photoincorporation of ANAPP3, intact vasa deferentia were treated with [3H]ANAPP3 and samples of homogenate, cytosol and a crude membrane fraction were analyzed using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Photolysis of [3H]ANAPP3 (10(-5) M; 3.0 mu Ci/ml) resulted in the incorporation of radioactivity into cellular components with apparent molecular weights of 54-66 and 43-57 kilodaltons. The photoincorporation of [3H]ANAPP3 was associated with the crude membrane fraction and not the cytosol, was reduced in the presence of ATP in an ATP-concentration-dependent manner, was lessened following pretreatment of the tissues with photolyzed nonradiolabeled ANAPP3, and was unaffected by the nucleoside transport inhibitor, dipyridamole. In tension studies on the same tissues the presence of ATP resulted in a concentration-dependent reduction in the initial contractile response to [3H]ANAPP3 the response to 3H was antagonized in tissues which had been pretreated with nonradiolabeled ANAPP3, and dipyridamole had no effect on the contractile response to [3H]ANAPP3. According to several criteria these findings indicate that the antagonism by photolyzed ANAPP3 of adenine nucleotide-induced responses is a direct result of the covalent insertion at or near the recognition site of cell-surface P2-purinergic receptors.