Regulation of adenylate cyclase from cultured human cell lines by adenosine

Broken cell particulate preparations of adenylate cyclase isolated from the human glioma cell line 132-1N1 were stimulated 2-to 3-fold by 30 muM adenosine. This concentration of adenosine produced a maximal stimulation of the cyclase while 3 to 5 muM adenosine produced half-maximal stimulation. Theophylline, at 40 muM, inhibited the adenosine stimulation of the adenylate cyclase by about 40% while 200 muM produced near complete inhibition. The inhibition by theophylline could be overcome by increasing adenosine to a concentration 10-fold that of theophylline, implying that the inhibition was competitive. Basal activity was not inhibited by even 1.0 mM theophylline, nor was the epinephrine stimulated activity. In contrast, 1.0 muM propranolol essentially completely inhibited the 8-fold stimulation of 1.0 muM epinephrine but had no effect on either basal or adenosine-stimulated activity. Adenosine and 2-chloroadenosine were equipotent in stimulating adenylate cyclase from the 132-1N1 line, whereas neither adenine nor guanosine had any detectable effect. GTP, 10 muM, produced a small variable stimulation of the adenylate cyclase while the GTP analogue, 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p), produced a marked stimulation fo the cyclase. Preincubation of the adenylate cyclase preparation with the analogue greatly increased its potency and maximal effect. In contrast, both basal and adenosine-stimulated activity decreased markedly with preincubation. The effects of adenosine or epinephrine in combination with Gpp(NH)p were at least additive and often synergistic in comparison to the effects of the compounds alone. The effects of adenosine on intact and broken cell preparations of the human fibroblast lines WI-38 and VA13-2RA were also examined. In the intact VA13-2RA, adenosine produced rapid and large increases in intracellular and extracellular cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP). In the parental fibroblast line, the WI-38, adenosine slightly elevated basal levels of cAMP, but only produced marked elevations in the presence of non-methylxanthine phosphodiesterase inhibitors. The effect of adenosine on the broken cell particulate preparations of adenylate cyclase from the fibroblasts was similar to its action on the cyclase from the 132-1N1; 30 muM adenosine produced a maximal stimulation of the adenylate cyclase, and the stimulation was inhibited by theophylline.