Solubilization and chromatographic separation of gonadotropin receptor from adenylate cyclase in ovarian preparations.

The distribution of gonadotropin receptor and adenylate cyclase activities has been monitored in Sepharose 6B chromatographic eluates of a Lubrol solubilized fraction of 25 day old rat ovarian tissue. The receptor was resolved from the adenylate cyclase activity. Chromatography of a gonadotropin desensitized rat ovarian preparation showed that the desensi-tized preparation contained normal amounts of the adenylate cyclase activity when compared with the control ovarian preparation, but there was a marked reduction in the receptor activity in the desensitized ovaries. This study demonstrates that in ovarian tissue adenylate cyclase is a separate entity distinct from the receptor molecule and that the desensitization causes a reduction in the receptor activity with no detectable change in the catalytic and chromatographic properties of the adenylate cyclase.