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The inhibition of receptor binding of [3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) by a factor from human serum was characterized. The serum factor inhibited [3H]PDBu binding in intact monolayer cultures of the rat embryo cell line CREF N and in a subcellular system containing membranes from these cells. Inhibition occurred at both 37 and 4 degrees C and was rapid and reversible. An analysis of [3H]PDBu binding in the presence of the serum factor indicated that inhibition of [3H]PDBu binding by the serum factor was noncompetitive. Using gel filtration to separate the serum factor from free [3H]PDBu, we obtained evidence that the serum factor does not act by binding or trapping the [3H]PDBu. Unlike the phorbol ester tumor promoters, the serum factor alone did not stimulate the release of choline or arachidonic acid from cellular phospholipids, nor did it inhibit the binding of 125I-labeled epidermal growth factor to cellular receptors. The factor did, however, antagonize the inhibition of epidermal growth factor binding induced by PDBu. Sera from pregnant women were, in general, more inhibitory of [3H]PDBu binding than were those from nonpregnant women, which were more inhibitory than those from men. During these studies we found that CREF N cells responded to being grown in the presence of PDBu by partial down regulation of the phorboid receptor. The 50% effective dose for down regulation was 8 nM PDBu, and the maximum effect occurred after 6 h. Taken together, our results indicate that the serum factor inhibits [3H]PDBu binding by a direct physical effect at the level of the phorboid receptors or their associated membranes. It would appear that if this factor acts in vivo, then it might antagonize certain effects of this class of tumor promoters.

Primary cell cultures of normal human epidermal keratinocytes and melanocytes and human cell lines established from a primary melanoma (SK-PM-4) and metastatic melanomas (HO#1, SK-MEL21, and SK-MEL37) contain specific and saturable receptors for the tumor promoter phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu). Scatchard analyses of the keratinocytes revealed two classes of binding sites: 1) a high-affinity class (affinity constant = 37 nM; 1.3 X 10(6) sites/cell) and a low-affinity class (affinity constant = 4,880 nM; 7 X 10(7) sites/cell). The melanoma cultures, likewise, showed high- and low-affinity classes of PDBu binding sites. However, the affinity constant values and total numbers of sites in the melanoma cells were lower than the corresponding values in the keratinocytes. The binding of [3H]PDBu to human keratinocytes was inhibited by the tumor promoters 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate and teleocidin but not by phorbol, which lacks tumor-promoting activity. Human serum also inhibited binding. Specific receptors for epidermal growth factor (EGF) were demonstrated in the keratinocytes and primary melanoma cultures. In contrast, three metastatic melanoma cultures gave negligible levels of EGF binding. Among the various cell types, the extent of [3H]PDBu binding did not correlate with the extent of EGF binding, indicating that these two substances occupy distinctly separate types of receptors.

Utilizing [3H]phorbol dibutyrate [P(Bu)2], we have developed an assay for high-affinity phorbol ester receptors in intact rat embryo fibroblasts. At 37 degrees C, binding of [3H]P(Bu)2 reached a maximum within 10 min and was rapidly reversible. The tumor promoters 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol 13-acetate, teleocidin B, and mezerein were potent inhibitors of [3H]P(Bu)2 binding. Phorbol and 4-alpha-phorbol didecanoate, which lack tumor-promoting activity, did not inhibit [3H]P(Bu)2 binding. Epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, arginine and lysine vasopressin, luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone, and diazepam did not inhibit [3H]P(Bu)2 binding. A Scatchard analysis was compatible with two classes of binding sites, one with Kd = 8 nM and about 1--2 x 10(5) sites per cell and the other with Kd = 710 nM and about 3 x 10(6) sites per cell. Sera from various species, human amniotic fluid, and certain tissue extracts inhibited specific binding of [3H]P(Bu)2. Fractionation of human serum led to 135-fold purification of an inhibitory factor with a molecular weight in the range 40,000 to 80,000.