Receptor-purified, Bolton-Hunter radioiodinated, recombinant, human epidermal growth factor: an improved radioligand for receptor studies.

We report an assessment of the applicability of the Bolton-Hunter method to the radioiodination of epidermal growth factor (EGF). Recombinant human EGF (hEGF) could be radioiodinated successfully by this method, whereas murine EGF could not. Bolton-Hunter 125I-labeled hEGF was compared with commercial 125I-labeled hEGF prepared by the chloramine-T radioiodination method. Neither radioligand was sufficiently pure for a detailed characterization of the purportedly heterogeneous pattern of binding of EGF to its receptors. A procedure based on receptor adsorption was thus developed for repurification of the Bolton-Hunter 125I-labeled hEGF. This provided a much purer radioligand suitable for detailed studies of receptor-binding heterogeneity.