The determination of ligand–receptor binding affinities
plays a key role in the development process of pharmaceuticals. While
the classical radiochemical binding assay uses radioligands, fluorescence-based
binding assays require fluorescent probes. Usually, radio- and fluorescence-labeled
ligands are dissimilar in terms of structure and bioactivity, and
can be used in either radiochemical or fluorescence-based assays.
Aiming for a close comparison of both assay types, we synthesized
tritiated fluorescent neurotensin receptor ligands ([3H]13, [3H]18) and their nontritiated
analogues (13, 18). The labeled probes were
studied in radiochemical and fluorescence-based (high-content imaging,
flow cytometry, fluorescence anisotropy) binding assays. Equilibrium
saturation binding yielded well-comparable ligand–receptor
affinities, indicating that all these setups can be used for the screening
of new drugs. In contrast, discrepancies were found in the kinetic
behavior of the probes, which can be attributed to technical differences
of the methods and require further studies with respect to the elucidation
of the underlying mechanisms.