Natriuretic peptide receptors in the kidney and the ventral and dorsal aortae of the Atlantic hagfish Myxine glutinosa (Agnatha).

The character of natriuretic peptide receptors (NPRs) in the kidney and aortae of the Atlantic hagfish Myxine glutinosa was determined and compared with that of NPRs in hagfish gills. The relationship of hagfish kidney and aortic NPRs with NPRs from higher vertebrates was also examined. Iodinated atrial and C-type natriuretic peptides (NPs) (125I-ANP, 125I-CNP) were used in tissue section autoradiography, competition studies and guanylate cyclase (GC) assays. Rat atrial and porcine C-type NPs (rANP, pCNP) and rat des[Gln18, Ser19, Gly20, Leu21 Gly22]ANP-(4-23)-NH2 (C-ANF, which binds to the mammalian and teleost 'clearance' receptor, NPR-C), were used as competing ligands. 125I-ANP binding sites were observed on both aortae and on the glomeruli, neck segments and archinephric ducts of the kidney. 4.0 nmol l-1 rANP competed for 50% of 125I-ANP glomerular sites. 125I-CNP did not visibly bind to any of the tissues, but 300 nmol l-1 pCNP competed for 50% of 125I-ANP glomerular sites. C-ANF failed to compete for 125I-ANP sites. rANP and pCNP stimulated cyclic GMP production in kidney membrane preparations, but C-ANF did not, demonstrating that the hagfish kidney NPR is GC-linked. This study suggests that a predominant population of ANP-like receptors, similar to the mammalian NPR-A, exists in the myxinoid aortae and kidney tissue. However, no detectable population of a receptor that binds all NPs, such as is present in the hagfish gill, nor an NPR similar to the NPR-C of higher vertebrates was discovered.