Regulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity by corticotropin in adrenocortical tumor cell clones: roles of cyclic AMP and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase.

In Y1 adrenocortical tumor cells, corticotropin (ACTH), cyclic AMP, and 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (8BrcAMP) stimulated ornithine decarboxylase activity (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.17) and steroidogenesis. The concentrations required for half-maximal activation of ornithine decarboxylase were 60 pM for ACTH and 1 mM for 8BrcAMP; the concentrations required for half-maximal activation of steroidogenesis were 50 pM for ACTH and 0.2 mM for 8BrcAMP. Ornithine decarboxylase activity increased 1.5 hr after the addition of these agents, reached a maximum between 4 and 6 hr, and then declined. Mutant clones with impaired ACTH-responsive adenylate cyclase systems [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1]did not respond to ACTH with increased ornithine decarboxylase activity, but they responded normally to added cyclic AMP. These results indicate that adenylate cyclase and cyclic AMP are necessary for the stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity by ACTH. In a series of Y1(Kin) mutants with altered cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activities (ATP:protein phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.37), the effects of ACTH on ornithine decarboxylase also were attenuated. These findings suggest that cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase also plays a necessary role in the stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity by ACTH. The effects of ACTH on ornithine decarboxylase in the Kin mutants, however, were quantitatively different from the effects on steroidogenesis and did not closely reflect the degree of defect in cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity. These differences suggest that the pathways of ACTH action leading to stimulation of steroidogenesis and ornithine decarboxylase activity diverge subsequent to activation of the protein kinase.     

Translational control by protein kinase in Artemia salina and wheat germ.

The catalytic subunit of cyclic 3':5'-AMP-dependent protein kinase (ATP:protein phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.37) inhibits translation in Artemia salina and wheat germ extracts. It acts, as in reticulocyte lysates [Datta, A., de Haro, C., Sierra, J. M. & Ochoa, S. (1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74, 1463-1467] by catalyzing the conversion of a proinhibitor to an inhibitor of polypeptide chain initiation. Addition of ATP and either cyclic AMP or catalytic subunit promotes the proinhibitor-inhibitor conversion in crude proinhibitor preparations from A. salina embryos. The effect of cyclic AMP is due to stimulation of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, present in such preparations, and is inhibited by hemin. In similar preparations from wheat germ, addition of ATP and catalytic subunit promoted proinhibitor-inhibitor conversion, but addition of ATP and cyclic AMP has little or no effect. As assayed with histone as substrate, wheat germ preparations exhibit a protein kinase activity that is not stimulated by the addition of cyclic AMP or cyclic GMP. Our results suggest that a translational control system, similar to that existing in rabbit reticulocytes and other mammalian cells, is present in organisms evolutionarily far removed from mammals.     

Activation of Protein Kinase by Physiological Concentrations of Cyclic AMP

When determined under the usual conditions of an excess of ligand over protein, the concentration of cyclic AMP necessary to activate pure preparations of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (EC 2.7.1.37; ATP:-protein protein phosphotransferase) half-maximally is in the range of 0.2-0.3 muM when casein or glycogen synthetase is used as the substrate, i.e., essentially the same as the concentration of the nucleotide that is found in resting skeletal muscle. The apparent dissociation constant for cyclic AMP bound to the protein kinase is also about 0.2-0.3 muM when measured under similar conditions. The concentration of the protein kinase in muscle is relatively high (0.23 muM), however, and under these conditions the apparent activation constant of the enzyme for cyclic AMP is raised so that an increase in cyclic AMP levels in the tissue would cause a concomitant increase in protein kinase activity over a wide range of nucleotide concentration. As a result, it is unnecessary to invoke compartmentalization of cyclic AMP to explain how it can control protein kinase activity in vivo. Another factor that may increase the effectiveness of changes in cyclic AMP concentration is the heat-stable protein inhibitor of protein kinase that may function to inhibit the activity of nearly all the protein kinase catalytic subunit dissociated by basal concentrations of cyclic AMP. Finally, the near equity between the concentration of cyclic AMP binding sites and the ligand itself provides a potential mechanism whereby agents can affect the total cyclic AMP content without directly affecting adenylate cyclase, cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, or cyclic AMP transport.     

Products of reaction catalyzed by purified rat liver guanylate cyclase determined by 31p NMR spectroscopy.

Products of the reactions catalyzed by highly purified preparations of soluble guanylate cyclase [GTP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.2] from rat liver were identified and quantified with 31P NMR spectroscopy. Utilization of this technique necessitated modification of the standard assay conditions; higher concentrations of enzyme and substrate (2 mM), Mg2+ instead of Mn2+, and longer incubation times (up to 46 hr) at 30 degrees C were used. Revision of our reported procedure for purificaton of guanylate cyclase [Tsai, S-C., Manganiello, V. C. & Vaughan, M. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 253, 8452-8457] to include chromatography on Ultrogel AcA34 and agarose-hexane-GTP provided an enzyme with specific activity higher than in our earlier preparations. 31P NMR spectra obtained during incubation of this enzyme showed that the rates of GTP disappearance and cyclic GMP (cGMP) accumulation were constant for approximately 16 hr. They indicated, however, that the preparations were contaminated with inorganic pyrophosphatase. This was removed by preparative electrophoresis, yielding enzyme with specific activities (900-1300 nmol/min per mg of protein) higher than those reported for guanylate cyclases from rat liver or lung. With this preparation, cGMP and PPi were the only products of GTP detected, consistent with the assumption that the guanylate and adenylate cyclase reactions are analogous.     

Nitric oxide activates guanylate cyclase and increases guanosine 3′:5′-cyclic monophosphate levels in various tissue preparations

Nitric oxide gas (NO) increased guanylate cyclase [GTP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.2] activity in soluble and particulate preparations from various tissues. The effect was dose-dependent and was observed with all tissue preparations examined. The extent of activation was variable among different tissue preparations and was greatest (19- to 33-fold) with supernatant fractions of homogenates from liver, lung, tracheal smooth muscle, heart, kidney, cerebral cortex, and cerebellum. Smaller effects (5- to 14-fold) were observed with supernatant fractions from skeletal muscle, spleen, intestinal muscle, adrenal, and epididymal fat. Activation was also observed with partially purified preparations of guanylate cyclase. Activation of rat liver supernatant preparations was augmented slightly with reducing agents, decreased with some oxidizing agents, and greater in a nitrogen than in an oxygen atmosphere. After activation with NO, guanylate cyclase activity decreased with a half-life of 3-4 at 4 degrees but re-exposure to NO resulted in reactivation of preparations. Sodium azide, sodium nitrite, hydroxylamine, and sodium nitroprusside also increased guanylate cyclase activity as reported previously. NO alone and in combination with these agents produced approximately the same degree of maximal activation, suggesting that all of these agents act through a similar mechanism. NO also increased the accumulation of cyclic GMP but not cyclic AMP in incubations of minces from various rat tissues. We propose that various nitro compounds and those capable of forming NO in incubations activate guanylate cyclase through a similar but undefined mechanism. These effects may explain the high activities of guanylate cyclase in certain tissues (e.g., lung and intestinal mucosa) that are exposed to environmental nitro compounds.     

Adenylate cyclase permanently uncoupled from hormone receptors in a novel variant of S49 mouse lymphoma cells.

A novel variant of the S49 mouse lymphoma has been selected from wild-type cells by growth in medium containing the beta-adrenergic agonist terbutaline and inhibitors of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase. In contrast to the situation in the wild-type clone, synthesis of adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) is not stimulated by beta-adrenergic agonists or by prostaglandin E1 either in intact variant cells or in membrane preparations of such clones. However, basal and NaF-stimulated activities of adenylate cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizine), EC 4.6.1.1] are normal, enzyme activity is stimulated by guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate [Gpp(NH)p], and intact cells accumulate cyclic AMP when exposed to cholera toxin. Furthermore, variant cell membranes possess ligand-binding activity consistent with the conclusion that a normal or an excessive number of beta-adrenergic receptors is present. Thus, interaction between the hormone-binding and the catalytic moieties of the adenylate cyclase system is lost. This variant phenotype, designated as uncoupled (UNC), has been stable for more than 100 generations without exposure to the drugs used for selection. Such cells should be useful for the elucidation of methanisms of transmission of information from hormone receptors to adenylate cyclase.     

Guanosine 3′:5′-Monophosphate-Dependent Protein Kinases in Mammalian Tissues

The mammalian protein kinase activity stimulated preferentially by low concentrations of guanosine 3′:5′-monophosphate (cyclic GMP), but not by adenosine 3′:5′-monophosphate (cyclic AMP), was readily assayed in a modified incubation system that contained a neutral phosphate buffer, protein kinase modulator, and arginine-rich histone. Cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase activity assayed under these conditions was about two to three orders of magnitude higher than that previously detected. The enzyme activity occurred in all guinea pig and rat tissues (lung, heart, aorta, brain, liver, ileum, adipose, and pancreatic islets) examined. The activity can be separated from the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity, also present in the same tissues, by means of either Sephadex G-200 gel filtration or ammonium sulfate fractionation. The cyclic GMP-dependent enzyme preparations had K_a values for cyclic GMP ranging from 0.03 to 0.12 μM, compared to the K_a values for cyclic AMP ranging from 0.6 to 3.8 μM. The presence of phosphate and protein kinase modulator was essential for maximal cyclic GMP-dependent enzyme activity.     

Hypertriacylglycerolemia in the chick: Effect of estrogen on hepatic microsomal enzymes of triacylglycerol and phospholipid synthesis

Hepatic microsomal enzymes of triacylglycerol and phospholipid synthesis were investigated in chicks made hyperlipidemic by estrogen treatment. The total activities of two liver microsomal enzymes common to the triacylglycerol and phospholipid biosynthetic pathways, the fatty acid CoA ligase (AMP) (EC 6.2.1.3) and the sn-glycerol 3-phosphate acyl-CoA acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.15), and an enzyme unique to triacylglycerol synthesis, the diacylglycerol acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.20), increased 2.5–3.6-fold, as did total liver protein, relative to the activities and protein from controls. Upon subcellular fractionation, little change in the specific activities of these biosynthetic enzymes was observed. The microsomal marker activity NADPH cytochrome C reductase (EC 1.6.2.a) also increased proportionately with liver protein. However, the total activity of a phospholipid biosynthetic enzyme, diacylglycerol cholinephosphotransferase (EC 2.7.8.2) increased only 32% after a 5-day diethylstilbestrol course, while the specific activity of this enzyme decreased 40%. The total activity of succinic dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.1), a mitochondrial marker activity, increased only 22%, further demonstrating the differential effect of estrogen on hepatic enzyme activities. The augmentation of triacylglycerol synthesis may be mediated, in part, by increases in total activities of two enzymes common to the triacylglycerol and phospholipid synthetic pathways and/or by regulation at the diacylglycerol branch point of triacylglycerol and phospholipid synthesis.     

Activation of hormone-sensitive lipase and phosphorylase kinase by purified cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase

Cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase, purified to homogeneity from bovine lung, was shown to activate hormone-sensitive lipase partially purified from chicken adipose tissue. The degree of activation was the same as that effected by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase although higher concentrations of the cyclic GMP-dependent enzyme were required (relative activities expressed in terms of histone H2b phosphorylation units). Activation by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase was completely blocked by the heat-stable protein kinase inhibitor protein from skeletal muscle but activation by the cyclic GMP enzyme was not inhibited. Lipase fully activated by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase showed no further change in activity when treated with cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase. Lipase activated by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase was reversibly deactivated by purified phosphorylase phosphatase (from bovine heart); full activity was restored by reincubation with cyclic GMP and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase. Cholesterol esterase activity in the chicken adipose tissue fraction, previously shown to be activated along with the triglyceride lipase by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, was also activated by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase. Crude preparations of hormone-sensitive triglyceride lipase from human or rat adipose tissue and cholesterol esterase from rat adrenal were also activated by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase. Purified phosphorylase kinase (rabbit skeletal muscle) was also shown to be activated by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase. The present results, together with those of other workers on histone phosphorylation, suggest that the substrate specificities of cyclic GMP-dependent and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase may be similar. This is discussed in the light of a model recently proposed with regard to the relationship between the subunit structures of the two kinases. The physiologic significance of the findings remains to be established.     

Hormonally specific expression of cardiac protein kinase activity

The relationship between the effects of isoproterenol and prostaglandin E(1) (PGE(1)) on contractile state, cyclic AMP accumulation, and the activation states of protein kinase (ATP: protein phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.37), phosphorylase kinase, glycogen synthase, and glycogen phosphorylase have been studied in the isolated perfused rat heart. Perfusion of hearts with isoproterenol (10 or 80 nM) caused enhancement of left ventricular dP/dt (P, pressure), increased intracellular cyclic AMP, increased the activation states of protein kinase, phosphorylase kinase, glycogen phosphorylase, and conversion of glycogen synthase to a less active form. PGE(1) (2 or 30 muM) increased cyclic AMP accumulation and activated protein kinase, but caused no detectable changes in dP/dt or the activation states of the protein kinase substrates involved in glycogen metabolism. Perfusion of hearts with either 10 nM isoproterenol or 30 muM PGE(1) produced comparable increases in cyclic AMP accumulation and protein kinase activity. Exposure of hearts to a combination of these agents caused additive effects on cyclic AMP content and protein kinase activity. However, values for phosphorylase kinase, glycogen phosphorylase, glycogen synthase, and dP/dt did not differ from those observed in the presence of 10 nM isoproterenol alone. The failure of PGE(1) to stimulate phosphorylation of protein kinase substrates was not due to an increase in phosphorylase phosphatase activity. We conclude that an increase in intracellular cyclic AMP and the subsequent activation of protein kinase are insufficient to change either the activities of phosphorylase kinase, glycogen phosphorylase, and glycogen synthase or the inotropic state of heart muscle.     

Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase mediates a cyclic AMP-stimulated decrease in ornithine and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activities.

Incubation of S49 lymphoma cells with N6,O2'-dibutyryl cyclic AMP (Bt2cAMP) decreases the activities of ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase; EC 4.1.1.17) and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (S-adenosyl-L-methionine carboxy-lyase; EC 4.1.1.50), the two principal enzymes in the pathway of polyamine synthesis. This decrease is dose-dependent, commences after a 3-hr delay, virtually abolishes the assayable activities of the two enzymes, and is not associated with a soluble inhibitor of the enzyme activities. Studies in mutant S49 clones that have altered protein kinase indicate that cAMP-dependent protein kinase mediates the decreases in enzyme activities. The dose-response pattern for the cAMP-stimulated decrease in enzyme activities parallels the pattern for the cAMP-stimulated, cell cycle-specific (G1) growth arrest of S49 cells. The activity of ornithine decarboxylase decreases faster than Bt2cAMP arrests wild-type S49 cells and, similarly, release of cells from the cAMP-stimulated arrest in G1 increases the activity of ornithine decarboxylase faster than cells exit from G1. These findings contrast with reports that cAMP induces ornithine decarboxylase in other cell types and further suggest that passage of cells through cell cycle is required for maintaining the activities of ornithine and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylases.     

Inactivation of rabbit muscle phosphorylase phosphatase by cyclic AMP-dependent kinas.

Partially purified rabbit skeletal muscle phosphorylase phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.17; phosphoprotein phosphohydrolase) was inactivated when it was incubated with exogenous cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (EC 2.7.1.37; ATP:protein phosphotransferase), cyclic AMP, and ATP-Mg. Subsequent separation of the phosphatase by acrylamide gel electrophoresis or sucrose density centrifugation resulted in reactivation of the enzyme. The phosphatase decreased in molecular weight from approximately 70,000 to 52,000, and a phosphorylated inhibitor with molecular weight of 26,000 was found. Reactivation of phosphatase also occurred when it was incubated with MnCl2 or trypsin. The inhibitor was effective at less than 10(-8) M and was relatively heat stable. Its activity was destroyed by tryptic digestion and by dephosphorylation by a Mn-stimulated phosphatase. These observations support the possibility that phosphorylase phosphatase activity is controlled by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and a Mn-stimulated phosphatase by a reaction involving phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of a protein phosphatase inhibitor.     

Regulation of glutamine synthetase in cultured 3T3-L1 cells by insulin, hydrocortisone, and dibutyryl cyclic AMP

The 3T3-L1 mouse fibroblast cell line develops morphological and biochemical characteristics of adipocytes when maintained at confluence. This conversion to adipocytes is accelerated by addition of insulin to the culture medium [Green, H. & Kehinde, O. (1975) Cell 5, 19-27]. During the course of the insulin-mediated adipocyte conversion, the specific activity (units/mg of protein) of glutamine synthetase [L-glutamate:ammonia ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.3.1.2] increases more than 100-fold. The specific activities of hexokinase (ATP:D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.1) and glucose-6-P dehydrogenase (D-glucose-6-phosphate:NADP(+) 1-oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.49) also increase but less dramatically (1.5- to 3-fold). In contrast, confluent cells maintained in the absence of insulin for the same time (12-20 days after confluence) display only minimal increases in the activity of these enzymes. Maintenance of confluent cells in culture medium lacking added L-glutamine has little, if any, effect on glutamine synthetase activity in either control or insulin-treated cultures. Treatment of confluent 3T3-L1 cultures with hydrocortisone (1 mug/ml) for 3 days prior to harvesting results in an increase in glutamine synthetase specific activity of 12-fold for control cultures maintained for 13 days in the absence of insulin and 1.4-fold for adipocyte cultures maintained for 13 days in the presence of insulin (10 mug/ml). Treatment of 3T3-L1 control cells and adipocytes with dibutyryl cyclic AMP (1 mM) plus theophylline (1 mM) decreases the glutamine synthetase specific activity and almost completely reverses the insulin- and hydrocortisone-mediated increases in enzyme activity. In contrast, treatment with dibutyryl cyclic AMP plus theophylline has relatively little effect on the specific activities of hexokinase or glucose-6-P dehydrogenase or on the protein content of the cultures. These data indicate that glutamine synthetase activity is hormonally regulated in 3T3-L1 cells.     

Purification of soluble guanylate cyclase from rat liver

Soluble guanylate cyclase [GTP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.2] has been purified from rat liver and exhibited a single protein band on polyacrylamide gels coincident with activity and indicative of a molecular weight of 150,000. The apparent specific activity of the purified enzyme was 276 nmol of cyclic GMP formed per mg per min with Mn²⁺ as the cation cofactor and 23.8 nmol of cyclic GMP formed per mg per min with Mg²⁺. This represented 9200-fold and 7400-fold purifications of Mn²⁺ and Mg²⁺ activities, respectively. The specific activity of soluble guanylate cyclase was not constant with protein concentration. At all stages of purification, increasing the enzyme concentration in the guanylate cyclase assay increased the apparent specific activity of the preparation. The purified enzyme could be activated by nitroprusside, nitric oxide, arachidonate, linoleate, oleate, and superoxide dismutase. However, the degree of activation was dependent upon the concentration of enzyme protein assayed.     

Ovarian cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase activity: ontogeny and effect of gonadotropins.

The ontogeny of ovarian cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities during the postnatal development of the rat, as well as the effect of LH and FSH administration on ovarian cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities in 5-day-old and in hypophysectomized rats was examined. Ovaries of 4 to 8-day-old rats possessed little or no measureable cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities. Subsequent postnatal development occurred in three distinct phases. During the first phase, ovarian cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities increased progressively from age 8 days to age 23 days, when adult levels were observed. Protein kinase activity declined markedly during the second postnatal developmental phase from days 24 to 26, lost its cyclic AMP-dependency, and became refractory to stimulation by cyclic AMP. Studies employing a heat-stable protein kinase inhibitor protein isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle suggest that ovarian protein kinase activity during the refractory period was largely of the cyclic AMP-independent variety. During the third postnatal phase, comprising days 30 to 40, ovarian cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities increased to levels seen in sexually mature rats. Protein kinase cyclic AMP-dependency which was lost during the refractory second postnatal period was fully restored during the third phase. Administration of FSH or LH led to a marked increase of ovarian cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities in 5-day-old rats. Hypophysectomy of 20-day-old rats caused a significant reduction of the cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities in a 27,000 X g supernatant fraction, as well as in the mitochondrial, microsomal, and 105,000 X g supernatant fraction. The decreased cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities of these fractions could be partially restored by FSH or LH treatment of the hypophysectomized rats. The results indicate that ovarian cyclic AMP-binding and protein kinase activities, as well as the ability of ovarian protein kinase to respond to cyclic AMP are gradually acquired after the first postnatal week. The postnatal development of ovarian protein kinase and cyclic AMP-binding activities presumably involves the participation of FSH and LH, although the precise mechanism of LH and FSH action remains to be established.     

Guanosine 3′:5′-Cyclic Monophosphate-Dependent Phosphorylation of Endogenous Substrate Proteins in Membranes of Mammalian Smooth Muscle

Guanosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic GMP) stimulated the endogenous phosphorylation of two proteins in isolated membrane fractions from mammalian organs rich in smooth muscle, including ductus deferens, uterus, and small intestine. The apparent molecular weights of the substrate proteins were 130,000 and 100,000. In the presence of 10 mM MnCl(2), a half-maximal increase in phosphorylation of these proteins was achieved with 20-30 nM cyclic GMP. Approximately 10-fold higher concentrations of adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP) were required to produce the same increase in phosphorylation of these two proteins. Cyclic AMP, but not cyclic GMP, regulated the phosphorylation of a third protein present in these same membrane fractions; the apparent molecular weight of this protein was 50,000. Cyclic GMP-dependent phosphorylation of endogenous protein was not observed in the cell sap of any of the three preparations of smooth muscle studied. The finding of endogenous cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase activity and associated substrate proteins in membrane fractions from several mammalian organs containing smooth muscle raises the possibility that physiological actions of cyclic GMP in smooth muscle may be mediated by the phosphorylation of membrane proteins.     

Physiological regulation of rat liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) by insulin. Insignificance of a cyclic AMP-independent mechanism.

The effect of re-feeding glucose, protein or fat and the effect of insulin injection on the activity of hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP: oxaloacetate carboxy-lyase (transphosphorylating) EC 4.1.1.32), the concentration of hepatic cyclic AMP and the level of serum insulin was investigated in starved rats. Under all conditions examined the concentration of serum insulin was elevated to a high degree. However, only rats re-fed with glucose responded to the increase in serum insulin with a decrease in PEP carboxykinase activity, while the activity of the enzyme remained unchanged or was elevated after re-feeding protein or fat or after insulin injection, respectively. Since under all conditions there was a close correlation between cyclic AMP concentration and PEP carboxykinase activity, but not between the insulin level and enzyme activity, it is concluded that the hormone physiologically regulates PEP carboxykinase activity by decreasing the intrahepatic cyclic AMP concentration rather than by the postulated cyclic AMP-independent inhibition of specific mRNA translation.     

Glucose Inhibition of Adenylate Cyclase in Intact Cells of Escherichia coli B

Previous studies in E. coli B have demonstrated an inverse correlation between the presence of glucose in the medium and the accumulation of cyclic AMP in the medium. This observation could not be explained by the action of glucose as a repressor of adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1) synthesis, as a stabilizer of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (EC 3.1.4.17) activity, or as a direct inhibitor of adenylate cyclase activity in cell-free preparations. The recent development of an in vivo assay for adenylate cyclase has provided a basis for further exploring the inhibitory action of glucose in intact cells. With this assay it has been possible to show that, while glucose does not affect adenylate cyclase in vitro, it rapidly inhibits the enzyme activity in intact cells. Extensive metabolism of glucose is not required, since alpha-methylglucoside also inhibits adenylate cyclase in vivo. When cells are grown on glucose as carbon source, some sugars (mannose, glucosamine) substitute for glucose as adenylate cyclase inhibitors while others (e.g., fructose) do not. Dose-response studies indicate that low concentrations of glucose lead to essentially complete inhibition of adenylate cyclase activity while only moderately decreasing intracellular cyclic AMP concentrations. The evidence presented suggests that the decreased cellular cyclic AMP levels resulting from glucose addition can be accounted for by inhibition of adenylate cyclase without any significant effect on cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase or the transport of cyclic AMP from the cells to the medium.     

Hormone-sensitive lipase in differentiated 3T3-L1 cells and its activation by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

Differentiation of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts to adipocyte-like cells was accompanied by a 19-fold increase in neutral triglyceride lipase activity, a 12-fold increase in diglyceride lipase activity, a 10-fold increase in monoglyceride lipase activity, and a 280-fold increase in cholesterol esterase activity. In contrast, acid acylhydrolase activities did not increase during differentiation. The rate of glycerol release from unstimulated intact cells increased by more than 1 order of magnitude upon differentiation. Isoproterenol (1 microM) and 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (0.1 mM) further stimulated this rate of glycerol release 3-fold. The neutral triglyceride lipase activity in cell-free preparations of differentiated cells was activated 105% by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. Neutral cholesterol esterase, diglyceride lipase, and monoglyceride lipase were also activated (117%, 10%, and 37+, respectively) by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. In contrast, protein kinase had no effect on any of the four lysosomal acid acylhydrolase activities. Thus, hormone-sensitive lipase, the most characteristic and functionally important enzyme of adipose tissue, has been characterized in differentiated 3T3-L1 cells. The 3T3-L1 cell should be a valuable model system in which to study regulation of hormone-sensitive lipase, particularly its long-term regulation.     

Plasma Membranes from Cultured Muscle Cells: Isolation Procedure and Separation of Putative Plasma-Membrane Marker Enzymes

Partially purified plasma membranes were obtained from chick-embryo muscle cells grown in tissue culture. The purification procedure involved homogenization in buffered isotonic sucrose followed by differential and sucrose density gradient centrifugations. The activities of five plasma-membrane markers, as well as microsomal and mitochondrial markers, were followed throughout the purification. When cultures were labeled with [(125)I]alpha-bungarotoxin, which binds to the surface of cultured muscle cells, the distributions of bound alpha-bungarotoxin and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) activity were nearly identical. The activities of these two plasma-membrane markers were maximal in the upper two fractions of the sucrose density gradient and were purified 5- to 7-fold with respect to total particulate protein. These fractions contained 20-30% of the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity and bound alpha-bungarotoxin, 4% of the microsomal marker TPNH-dependent cytochrome c reductase, 0.2% of the mitochondrial marker succinate-dependent cytochrome c reductase, 2.7% of the cellular RNA, and 0.02% of the DNA. The activity of the commonly used plasma-membrane marker, 5'-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5), was low in the upper two sucrose gradient fractions and was maximal in a more dense fraction. The distributions of the other two plasma-membrane markers, leucyl beta-naphthylamidase and phosphodiesterase I, were intermediate between Na(+),K(+)-ATPase and 5'-nucleotidase. The distributions of all markers were similar in preparations from cultures containing mononucleated myogenic cells, multinucleated myotubes, fibroblasts, or all three cell types. Modification of the procedure to include homogenization in the absence of sucrose resulted in a 3.4-fold purification of the membranes containing 5'-nucleotidase, which were shifted to a lower density.