Receptors for lactogenic hormones in the ovine corpus luteum. III: Inhibition of 125I-labelled human growth hormone binding by a high molecular weight factor in ovine corpus luteum cytosol.

Ovine luteal cytosol fractions inhibited the specific binding of 125I-labelled human GH and ovine prolactin (oPRL) to ovine luteal microsomes in a dose-dependent fashion. Inhibition was dependent on divalent cation concentrations, and was abolished by divalent metal ion chelating agents or by boiling. Inhibition was not due to ionic strength or salt effects on hormone binding, the release of endogenously bound oPRL into the cytosol fraction during tissue disruption and fractionation, or the presence of a soluble (or solubilized) lactogenic receptor in ovine cytosol preparations. Gel chromatography of cytosol fractions gave a molecular weight for the inhibitor of approximately 50,000.