Interactions of vasopressin agonists and antagonists with membrane receptors

Abstract Plasma membranes containing one class of non-cooperative binding sites for tritium-labelled [8-arginine]vasopressin were isolated from bovine kidney inner medulla and from rat liver. By using a weighted, non-linear least squares fit to logistic curves, the binding parameters of eight vasopressin agonists and antagonists were determined in competition experiments. Vasopressin analogues with sarcosine or N-methyl-L-alanine in position 7 instead of proline showed a high ratio of antidiuretic to vasopressor activity. These analogues retained a high binding affinity to the renal vasopressin receptor with apparent dissociation constants K D in the order proline D values being in the order proline ⪡ N-methylalanine