Aggregation-induced stability of dexamethasone receptors in rat kidney.

The stability of the dexamethasone-receptor complex of rat kidney cytosol was studied using homogenizing media of varying pH and composition. It was found that the complex is less stable with buffers usually employed for the study of steroid receptors such as Tris, EDTA etc., whereas the stability increases considerably with a solution composed of monothioglycerol 12 mmol/l and glycerol 5% in distilled water. Sepharose 4-B column chromatography revealed that the increased stability was associated with a larger form (probably an aggregate) of the receptor-steroid complex.