Chinese hamster fibroblasts (CHW) fail to physiologically respond to the (-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol with an increase in cellular cAMP. This unresponsiveness is due to a lack of (3-adrenergic receptors as indicated by an absence of specific binding of '25I-labeled hydroxybenzylpindolol (125I-HYP) to CHW plasma membranes. Preparation of somatic cell hybrids between CHW and human peripheral blood leukocytes led to the selection of a panel of 15 human-Chinese hamster cell hybrid clones, some of which had P2-adrenergic receptors (specifically bound '25I-HYP) and responded to isoproterenol (accumulated cAMP). Biochemical analysis of independent cloned cell hybrids indicated that (32-adrenergic receptor density and the intensity of the associated physiological response were closely correlated (r = 0.98). Both of these parameters were concordant in all cell hybrids with the presence ofhuman chromosome 5. All other human chromosomes could be ruled out. These results suggest that the structural gene for the fi2-adrenergic receptor is found on human chromosome 5. (6,7). In an effort to examine pharmacogenetic aspects of ,3-adrenergic receptors, human-Chinese hamster cell hybrids were examined and it was observed that some of the hamster-human hybrid clones possessed 83-adrenergic receptors, were also sensitive to /3-adrenergic agonists, and exhibited characteristics ofthe ,B2 subtype. The random and preferential loss of human chromosomes from these hybrids allowed us to identify the human chromosome upon which the human P32-adrenergic gene was located. By examining the expression of specific human isozyme markers as an indication of specific human chromosomes, we demonstrate here that the structural gene for the human 82-adrenergic receptor is located on human chromosome 5.
MATERIALS AND METHODSParental Cells and Hybrids. The Chinese hamster lines used were CHW-1102 (hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase deficient) maintained on Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with 10% fetal calf serum. Fresh human leukocytes used for fusion were prepared as described (8).Human and Chinese hamster cells were fused, cloned, and maintained on hypoxanthine/aminopterin/thymidine (HAT) selection medium in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with 10% fetal calf serum (8, 9). A total of 15 hybrids were examined for ,&adrenergic receptors and response. They were designated CDC as previously noted (8). ,B-Adrenergic Receptors. 3-Adrenergic receptors were measured in the hamster-human hybrids with the f3-adrenergic antagonist "2I-labeled hydroxybenzylpindolol ('25I-HYP) according to the methods of Sporn and Molinoff (10). Cells were washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline containing Ca2+ and Mg2' and scraped in phosphate-buffered saline. The preparation was swollen in 10 mM Tris HCl, pH 7.3, at 4°C for 20 min and homogenized with seven strokes ofa Teflon-glass Polyscience model RZR10 homogenizer at setting 10. The homogenate was centrifuged for 5 min at 900 X g and the supernatant was centrifuged for 20 min at 11,500 X g. ...