Effects of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate on uterine estrogen receptor. II. Inhibition of estrogen . receptor transformation.

Previous observations suggested that pyridoxal 5'-phosphate was capable of inhibiting estrogen . receptor (R . E2) activation, or translocation to the nucleus, or both. The present study attempts to define more specifically the locus of this action. To this end we have examined the physicochemical alteration produced by interaction of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate with estrogen . receptor complex, using sucrose density gradient analysis and dissociation kinetics. Receptor transformation was inhibited when activation was performed in the presence of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. This effect was protein- and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate concentration-dependent. When pyridoxal 5'-phosphate was introduced postactivation it did not have any effect on the activated receptor, but when similar treatment was followed by NABH4 reduction, the complex reverted to the monomeric entity. The dissociation behavior obtained with cytosol R . E2, warmed in the presence of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, showed a biphasic curve suggesting that a significant portion of receptors remained nonactivated as demonstrated by the fast dissociating component. Due to the fact that Tris buffers cannot be used for pyridoxal 5'-phosphate experiments, we have used a borate buffer which resulted in a displacement of the sedimentation values from a 4S to 4.6 S for the unactivated receptor and 5S to 6 S for the activated form. The observations reported suggest that at least the initial effect of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate results in the inhibition of cytosolic receptor transformation from the nonactivated to the activated form.