Human β-adrenergic receptors. Simultaneous purification of β1- and β2-adrenergic-receptor peptides

Beta-Adrenergic receptors from basal membranes of human placenta were purified from digitonin extracts by sequential rounds of affinity chromatography, hydrophobic chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and steric-exclusion h.p.l.c. Basal membranes display both beta 1- and beta 2-adrenergic receptors, in the ratio 65:35. Affinity chromatography, hydrophobic chromatography on heptylamine-Sepharose and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel removed most of the contaminating proteins, and final purification of the receptor to apparent homogeneity was achieved by steric-exclusion h.p.l.c. The purified receptors showed Mr 67000 on SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions. Specific binding of radioligand to the purified beta-adrenergic receptors displayed stereoselectivity, and the agonist competition profiles demonstrated the presence of both beta 1- and beta 2-receptors. By using the subtype-selective ligands CGP-20712A (beta 1-selective) and ICI-118,551 (beta 2-selective), the purified Mr-67000 species was shown to be composed of equivalent amounts of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenergic receptors. Affinity chromatography on Sepharose-alprenolol and sequential elution with 1 microM-CGP-20712A followed by 100 microM(-)-alprenolol permitted beta 1-adrenergic receptors to be resolved from the mixture of beta 1-/beta 2-adrenergic receptors. The pharmacologically distinct human beta 1 and beta 2-adrenergic receptors are shown to be structurally very similar peptides.