Purification of an endogenous protein inhibitor of the high affinity binding of gamma-aminobutyric acid to synaptic membranes of rat brain.
In a medium without Na+, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) binds at 0 degrees to freshly prepared crude synaptic membranes from rat cerebral cortex with an apparent dissociation constant of 218 nM. An endogenous inhibitor of the Na+-independent GABA binding was removed from these membranes by freezing and thawing and by repeated washing with Tris citrate buffer (50 mM, pH 7.1) containing 0.01% Triton X-100. As a result, the crude synaptic membranes bind GABA at 0 degrees with two dissociation constants, 20 nM and 111 nM. The endogenous inhibitor is a thermostable (95 degrees for 15 min) acidic protein of approximately 1.5 X 10(4) daltons. It was purified (about 500-fold) with a series of procedures including gel chromatography on Sephadex G-100 and ion exchange chromatography on Dowex 50W-X8 (H+). Recombination of the purified endogenous inhibitor with crude synaptic membrane preparations deprived of the endogenous inhibitor showed that the purified inhibitor blocked noncompetitively the sites for high-affinity GABA binding. A role of this endogenous regulator in the functional of GABA-ergic synapses is discussed.
D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D005615:Freezing; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D051381:Rats; D013570:Synaptic Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid