Significance of the glycan moiety of the rat ovarian luteinizing hormone/chorionic gonadotropin (CG) receptor and human CG for receptor-hormone interaction

The role of the glycan moiety of the rat ovarian LH/CG receptor and human CG (hCG) in high-affinity receptor-hormone interaction was investigated by cross-linking and quantitative binding experiments. hCG and its derivatives, desialylated hCG and deglycosylated hCG were labeled either to the alpha-subunit (125I) or the beta-subunit (3H). The ligands were attached to ovarian membrane particles, which were treated with neuraminidase or peptide-N-glycosidase F to remove terminal sialic acids or N-linked oligosaccharides of the receptor, respectively, and the complexes formed were solubilized, cross-linked with glutaraldehyde, and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. All of the ligands produced similar autoradiographic patterns with the native or glycosidase-treated receptor, and only the receptor-(alpha)hCG and receptor-(alpha, beta)hCG complexes were detected. Moreover, quantitative binding studies indicated that all of the hormone derivatives had similar affinities for the native or glycosidase-treated receptor. In addition, the orientation of the carbohydrate side chains on the receptor-hormone complex was studied by digesting the complex with the glycosidases. The molecular weight of the receptor, evidenced by ligand blotting, was reduced to the same extent, whether the membrane-bound free receptor or receptor-hormone complex was treated with the glycosidases, suggesting that the oligosaccharide side chains of the receptor are apart from the hormone binding region. As peptide-N-glycosidase F treatment reduced the size of the Mr 90,000 receptor first to about Mr 67,000 and finally to about Mr 62,000, there may possibly be 2 N-linked carbohydrate chains per receptor polypeptide. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of the glycosidase-treated receptor-125I]hCG complex also revealed that neuraminidase was able to remove the sialic acids from both subunits of the receptor-bound hormone. In conclusion, the results suggest that hCG interacts with the polypeptide backbone of its ovarian receptor mainly through the peptide core of its alpha-subunit. Moreover, the carbohydrate side chains of both subunits of hCG are positioned on the outward face of the receptor-hormone complex.