Phosphodiesterase activity, calmodulin stimulated

Effects of Dopaminergic Antagonists on Calmodulin-stimulated Phosphodiesterase Activity... 

Both calmodulin and a calcium- and calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase activity occur in dispersed bovine parathyroid cells (20.). Some of the phenothiazines blocking the dopamine receptor in this tissue inhibit the interaction between calmodulin and the calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase. A series of experiments have tested the possibility that calmodulin might play a role in the effects of these agents on the parathyroid gland. The dopamine antagonists examined were weak inhibitors of calmodulin-stimulated phosphodiesterase activity (Table II). 

Effects of dopaminergic antagonists on dopamine-stimulated cAMP accumulation, adenylate cyclase activity, and calmodulin-stimulated phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity in intact bovine parathyroid cells or cellular homogenates. Values for or IC50 are given as uM. NT, not tested. 

Cyclic AMP is catabolized to 5 -adenosine monophosphate by the enzyme cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase, which terminates any further cAMP-initiated reactions. This enzyme also requires Mg + for activity. Calcium, again in consort with calmodulin, can stimulate phosphodiesterase activity. Phosphodiesterase appears to exist in multiple forms, each with specificity toward different substrates. Calcium and calmodulin activate only one form of the enzyme. The enzyme is potently inhibited by methyl xanthines, such as caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine. It is believed that at least part of the pharmacological effects of such compounds can be explained through their inhibition of phosphodiesterase and the consequent reduction in the catabolism of cAMP. 

Mehorta and coworkers (1989) observed that isolated fractions of brain and heart cells from rats orally administered 0.5-10 mg endrin/kg showed significant inhibition of Ca+2 pump activity and decreased levels of calmodulin, indicating disruption of membrane Ca+2 transport mechanisms exogenous addition of calmodulin restored Ca+2-ATPase activity. In vitro exposure of rat brain synaptosomes and heart sarcoplasmic reticuli decreased total and calmodulin-stimulated calcium ATPase activity with greater inhibition in brain preparations (Mehorta et al. 1989). However, endrin showed no inhibitory effects on the calmodulin-sensitive calcium ATPase activity when incubated with human erythrocyte membranes (Janik and Wolf 1992). In vitro exposure of rat brain synaptosomes to endrin had no effect on the activities of adenylate cyclase or 3, 5 -cyclic phosphodiesterase, two enzymes associated with synaptic cyclic AMP metabolism (Kodavanti et al. 1988). 

Finally, the inhibitory effects of phenothiazines on the formation of Of by PMNs have been interpreted as evidence for the participation of calmodulin in the transmission of the signal from the surface of the cell to the oxidase. One action of phenothiazines is to inhibit the effects of the complex of calmodulin and Ca . The activity of the effector molecule, such as phosphodiesterase, which would normally be stimulated by the binary complex of Ca with calmodulin, is not stimulated in the presence of phenothiazines. Jones et al. have shown that in both intact PMNs and in membranous fragments of PMNs stimulated with opsonized zymosan, phenothiazines inhibit the formation of Of. The hierarchy of potency of the various pheno-... 

Calcium, via calmodulin, also activates cyclic AMP phosphodiesterases which inactivate cyclic AMP by metabolism to AMP. Inhibition of phosphodiesterase yields a small increase in ACTH-stimulated steroidogenesis [2], This is relatively slight in the adrenocortical zona fasciculata-reticularis cell, which has a low phosphodiesterase level the zona glomerulosa cell has a higher activity [60,61], which may result from higher level of activation of the calcium/calmodulin intracellular messenger system in the zona glomerulosa. 

Calmodulin has been reported to stimulate membrane-bound adenylate cyclase in the presence of Ca ". Some reports suggest that Ca " " is required for the stimulation of dopamine-dependent adenylate cyclase and that the sensitivity of adenylate cyclase to a neurotransmitter is regulated by the presence of membrane-bound calmodulin, which binds the Ca required for dopamine stimulation of the enzyme. Furthermore, these reports present data that support the concept that cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of the plasma membrane leads to a release of membrane-bound calmodulin, thereby providing a feedback loop for the control of adenylate cyclase activity. The appearance of calmodulin in soluble fractions of the cell would also result in the activation of phosphodiesterase, which would further attenuate cAMP activity. 

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