Parathyroid hormone/adenylate cyclase coupling in vascular smooth muscle cells

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) has been implicated in hypertension, but PTH infusion results in vasodilation. PTH activates adenylate cyclase in vascular smooth muscle, but little is known about the factors that regulate PTH receptor/adenylate cyclase coupling in vascular cells. To characterize hormone-receptor signaling, we measured cyclic AMP levels in rat arterial smooth muscle cells in culture exposed to PTH (bovine 1-34). PTH yielded time- and concentration-dependent increases in cyclic AMP levels. Compared with isoproterenol, PTH was more potent, with a threshold at 2 x 10(-9) versus 5 x 10(-8) mol/L and half maximal responses at 10(-8) versus 2.4 x 10(-7) mol/L. PTH-induced increases in cyclic AMP were independent of extracellular calcium, cyclooxygenase metabolites, phospholipase C, and protein kinase C because PTH-induced increases in cyclic AMP were not prevented by variations in extracellular calcium, indomethacin, angiotensin II, vasopressin, and protein kinase C activators or inhibitors. PTH/adenylate cyclase coupling was G protein-dependent because increases in cyclic AMP were prevented by preincubation with cholera toxin but not with pertussis toxin. Prolonged exposure to PTH resulted in time- and concentration-dependent homologous desensitization of cyclic AMP responses. Desensitization occurred proximal to G protein/adenylate cyclase because after prolonged PTH, responses to forskolin and cholera toxin remained intact. Desensitization was independent of protein kinase A and receptor sequestration because cyclic AMP responses remained after prolonged exposure to forskolin and pretreatment with phenylarsine oxide, colchicine, and cytochalasin D. We conclude that in vascular smooth muscle cells, PTH is coupled to adenylate cyclase through a cholera toxin-sensitive G protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)