ABSTRACT: Ins(1,4,5)P3 is the intracellular messenger that mediates the effects of many cell-surface receptors on intracellular Ca2+ stores. Although radioligand-binding studies have identified high-affinity Ins(1,4,5)P3-binding sites in many tissues, these have not yet been convincingly shown to be the receptors that mediate Ca2+ mobilization, nor is it clear whether there are differences in these binding sites between tissues. Here we report that Ins(1,4,5)P3 binds to a single class of high-affinity sites in both permeabilized hepatocytes (KD = 7.8 +/- 1.1 nM) and cerebellar membranes (KD = 6.5 +/- 2.4 nM), and provide evidence that these are unlikely to reflect binding to either of the enzymes known to metabolize Ins(1,4,5)P3. Furthermore, the rank order of potency of synthetic inositol phosphate analogues in displacing specifically bound Ins(1,4,5)P3 is the same as their rank order of potency in stimulating mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ stores, suggesting that the Ins(1,4,5)P3-binding site may be the physiological receptor. Radiation inactivation of the Ins(1,4,5)P3-binding sites of liver and cerebellum reveals that they have similar molecular target sizes: 257 +/- 36 kDa in liver and 258 +/- 20 kDa in cerebellum. We conclude that an Ins(1,4,5)P3-binding protein with a molecular target size of about 260 kDa is probably the receptor that mediates Ca2+ mobilization in hepatocytes, and our limited data provide no evidence to distinguish this from the cerebellar Ins(1,4,5)P3-binding protein.
