Relations between 3H-estradiol uptake and receptor content of estrogen responsive tissues of castrated female rat.

The time course of 3H-Estradiol-17 beta (3H-E2) uptake, and estrogen receptor content in estrogen responsive tissues were studied between 0 and 12 h after injection of 0.5 microgram/kg of 3H-E2 or cold E2 injection to castrated adult female rats. The plasma concentration of 3H-E2 between 10 min and 2 h after injection was in the range of the plasma E2 level of cyclic rat. The total 3H-E2 uptake was well correlated with the receptor content in all tissues. The rank order of 3H-E2 uptake was: uterus (Ut) greater than anterior pituitary (Ap) greater than hypothalamus (Ht) greater than plasma. The cytosol 3H-E2 uptake showed its maximal level 10 min after injection in all tissues. Parallel time course between plasma 3H-E2 and cytosol uptake was obtained for each separate tissue. The nuclear 3H-E2 uptake showed its maximal values 2 h after injection with a subsequent decline. Cytosolic estrogen receptor (Rc) content showed a depletion-replenishment cycle after cold E2 injection in all tissues. Nuclear estrogen receptor (Rn) content in Ut increased progressively from 0 to 14 h after injection, but in Ap it showed its maximal level 2 h after injection, declining afterwards. In Ap, nuclear 3H-E2 uptake and Rn level showed parallel time courses. The maximal level of both parameters coinciding with the time of maximal Rc depletion. However, the Rn level in Ut increases more slowly at greater length than the nuclear 3H-E2 uptake, both processes being divergent. These findings are interpreted as the expression of tissular differences in the rate of nuclear receptor formation from the Rc-E complex previously translocated into nucleus and attached to chromatin.