Guanylate cyclase inhibitors: effect on inhibitory junction potentials in esophageal smooth muscle

Electrical field stimulation (EFS) of nerves intrinsic to the opossum lower esophageal sphincter (LES) produces LES relaxation, an increase in its guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) content, and hyperpolarization of its circular muscle membrane potential difference. Activation of esophageal nerves produces an analogous hyperpolarization of the circular esophageal smooth muscle. These studies test the hypothesis that cGMP is an intracellular mediator of this hyperpolarization. The transmembrane potential difference of circular smooth muscle cells was recorded with glass microelectrodes. Nerve-mediated smooth muscle hyperpolarization was evoked by EFS (1 ms, 50 V pulses). Forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, and sodium nitroprusside, an activator of guanylate cyclase, produced hyperpolarization. Cystamine and methylene blue, inhibitors of guanylate cyclase, blocked the hyperpolarization elicited by sodium nitroprusside, but not that by forskolin. Both also reversibly abolished the hyperpolarization evoked by EFS. Membrane-permeable derivatives of cGMP produced a concentration-dependent hyperpolarization. These data support the hypothesis that cGMP is an intracellular mediator of nerve-induced esophageal smooth muscle hyperpolarization.