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Abstract

The solubilization of vasopressin receptors from plasma membranes of bovine kidney and rat liver by different detergents was investigated. A prerequisite for the extraction of vasopressin receptors retaining binding affinity for their ligand was the stabilization of the receptors by the prior formation of the membrane-bound hormone-receptor complexes. The vasopressin-receptor complexes from both kidney and liver membranes were solubilized in a high yield with dodecyl-β-D-maltoside and 3-laurylamido-N,N′-dimethylpropylaminoxide. Several other nonionic detergents including octyl-β-D-glucopyranoside effectively extracted the hepatic vasopressin receptor. For the hormone-receptor complex solubilized from bovine kidney with dodecyl-β-D-maltoside, a Stokes' radius of 5.8 nm was determined.