Control of glomerulosa cell function by angiotensin II: transduction by G-proteins and inositol polyphosphates

1. The receptor-activated mechanisms that mediate the steroidogenic actions of angiotensin II (AII) have been characterized in rat and bovine adrenal glomerulosa cells. In rat adrenal cells, the AII receptor is coupled to a guanine nucleotide inhibitory protein which reduces adenylate cyclase activity and cyclic AMP production. However, receptor-mediated stimulation of aldosterone production by AII is exerted through a separate pertussis-insensitive nucleotide regulatory protein that subserves coupling of activated receptors to phospholipase C. 2. In AII-stimulated glomerulosa cells, hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate (PIP2) by phospholipase C yields diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins-P3), which act as second messengers by activating calcium-calmodulin and calcium-phospholipid dependent protein kinase pathways. Ins-1,4,5-P3 is a potent stimulus of intracellular calcium mobilization, and is promptly inactivated by two major routes of metabolism. Direct degradation of Ins-1,4,5-P3 by a 5-phosphatase gives inositol 1,4-bisphosphate which in turn is metabolized to inositol-4-monophosphate. The latter product can be derived only from higher inositol phosphates, and thus serves as a specific marker of polyphosphoinositide breakdown in agonist-stimulated cells. In contrast, inositol-1-phosphate is largely derived from phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis, which is not increased during the initial phase of AII action. 3. Ins-1,4,5-P3 formed in AII-stimulated glomerulosa cells is also phosphorylated by a calcium-calmodulin dependent 3-kinase to form inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate (Ins-P4), which is rapidly dephosphorylated to the biologically inactive Ins-1,4,5-P3 isomer, Ins-1,3,4-trisphosphate. The latter metabolite, like Ins-1,4,5-P3, is both degraded to lower phosphates (Ins-3,4,P2 and Ins-1,3-P2) and phosphorylated to form a new tetrakisphosphate isomer (Ins-1,3,4,6-P4). Ins-1,4,5-P3 formed during AII action is bound with high affinity to specific intracellular receptors through which InsP3 causes calcium mobilization during the initiation of cellular responses to AII and other calcium-dependent ligands.