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The responses of the fetal sheep pituitary to corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) change during gestation with maximum output of ACTH around days 120–130, and decreased ACTH output near term. However, there is no information available concerning the extent to which these responses may be modulated by alterations in the number of CRH receptors. Therefore we measured specific CRH-binding sites, and changes in binding characteristics in membrane preparations from fetal sheep anterior pituitaries collected at days 65–70, 85–88, 100–110, 125–130 and at term (approximately 145 days). Binding assays were carried out using ¹²⁵I-labelled Tyr-ovine CRH (¹²⁵I-Tyr-oCRH), incubated with crude membrane fractions for 90 min at 22 °C. Binding was time- and temperature-dependent, linear with protein concentration, saturable and specific for oCRH. Scatchard analysis of binding data for individual tissues revealed a single class of CRH-binding sites with high affinity (K_d 1 nmol/l) that did not change significantly with gestational age. However, the number of CRH-binding sites increased progressively from days 65–70 to a maximum at days 125–130, then decreased at term. These results demonstrate the presence of specific CRH-binding sites in the fetal sheep anterior pituitary. Furthermore, the change in CRH receptor number with advancing pregnancy follows a similar time-course to the changes reported previously in responsiveness of the fetal sheep anterior pituitary to exogenous CRH stimulation in vivo. These results suggest that alterations in CRH receptor number may contribute to changes in responsiveness of the fetal sheep anterior pituitary to CRH during gestation.

Journal of Endocrinology (1991) 130, 223–229

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