Nuclear localization of unoccupied oestrogen receptors

According to the current model of steroid hormone action oestrogen is thought to bind to its receptor in the cytoplasm of target cells1,2 and the oestrogen–receptor complex is then translocated into the nucleus2–4. This model is based on evidence obtained in homogenized cell preparations in which free receptor is associated with the cytosol, whereas steroid-bound receptor is associated with the nuclear fraction. Some data suggest, however, that the unfilled receptor may reside in the nucleus, and that cytosolic localization represents an extraction artefact. We have now reinvestigated the subcellular distribution of unfilled oestrogen receptor using cytochalasin B-induced enucleation to obtain cytoplast and nucleoplast fractions from receptor-containing GH3 cells derived from rat pituitary tumours. We found that cytoplasts prepared from GH3 cells contain little oestrogen-binding activity and that most of the unfilled oestrogen receptors are associated with the nuclear fraction. We therefore suggest that the standard model is in error and that the unoccupied receptor is nuclear in the intact cell.