Mechanism of lymphoma cell death induced by cyclic AMP

A mouse lymphoma tissue culture line, S49, is killed by isoproterenol, choleratoxin, or prostaglandin E1, inducers of cyclic AMP (cAMP) in these cells, or by the analog dibutyryl (db) cAMP. Cell death follows arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Mutant subclones obtained by growing S49 with dbcAMP were resistant to killing. They were deficient in cAMP-dependent protein kinase. These results are discussed in relation to the possible physiologic role of cAMP-induced cell death in T-cell differentiation.