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Structure and expression of a human oxytocin receptor

Nature volume 356, pages 526–529 (1992)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 14 May 1992

Abstract

JUST before the onset of labour, uterine myometrium becomes extremely sensitive to oxytocin1 for which it is a primary target tissue, because of a dramatic increase in the number of oxytocin receptors2,3. We report here the structure and expression of the human oxytocin receptor complementary DNA isolated by expression cloning. The encoded receptor is a 388-amino-acidpolypeptide with7transmembrane domains typical of G protein-coupled receptors. The oxytocin receptor, expressed in Xenopus oocytes, specifically responds to oxytocin and induces an inward membrane current. Messenger RNAs for the receptor are of two sizes, 3.6 kilobases in breast, and 4.4 kilobases in ovary, uterine endometrium and myometrium. The mRNA level in the myometrium is very high at term. We conclude that the increase in receptor number in the myometrium at labour is, at least in part, due to the increase in mRNA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Osaka University Medical School, 1-1-50 Fukushima, Fukushima-ku, Osaka, 553, Japan

    Tadashi Kimura & Osamu Tanizawa

  2. Department of Neuroscience, Osaka Bioscience Institute, Suita, Osaka, 565, Japan

    Kensaku Mori

  3. Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Michael J. Brownstein

  4. Department of Molecular Genetics, Osaka University Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Suita, Osaka, 565, Japan

    Hiroto Okayama

Authors
  1. Tadashi Kimura
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  2. Osamu Tanizawa
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  3. Kensaku Mori
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  4. Michael J. Brownstein
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  5. Hiroto Okayama
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Kimura, T., Tanizawa, O., Mori, K. et al. Structure and expression of a human oxytocin receptor. Nature 356, 526–529 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/356526a0

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