3 , 5 -cyclic phosphate diesterase

Early studies revealed that the 3, 5 -cyclic phosphate diesterase is present in all mammalian tissues (38, 33, 36), being most active in cerebral cortex (36, 37). It has also been identified in extracts of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica), the common earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris), and fly larvae (36) and it has been studied in marine organisms (38), the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discovdeum (39, AO), and in E. coli (Al). The enzyme has been partially purified from beef heart (30), dog heart, (A8) and bovine brain (37, A3). No highly purified preparations have yet been obtained and most studies have been performed with relatively crude preparations. 

In addition to the proposed regulatory role of ATP and pyrophosphate, some possibility exists that 3, 5 -cyclic phosphate diesterase is under physiological control. Such ideas arose through observations of Cheung (43, 62) that the partially purified enzyme from beef brain was markedly activated by snake venom. The stimulatory factor was labile at extreme pH it was not dialyzable and appeared to be a protein. A similar activating factor is also present in brain tissue (63) and is removed during purification of the diesterase. It seems to interact stoichiometrically with the enzyme. The activator is destroyed by trypsin and is not proteolytic itself. The precise role of this protein in regulating the phosphodiesterase in vivo is not yet established, however. 

It must be emphasized that much of the information on the enzyme to date comes from partially purified preparations. Even though it seems uniquely specific for nucleoside 3, 5 -cyclic phosphates, the possibility cannot be excluded that in some tissues more than one diesterase may be present. In fact, Hardman and Sutherland (64) have shown that a second 3, 5 -cyclic phosphate diesterase exists in heart muscle which is primarily specific for uridine 3, 5 -cyclic phosphate. This enzyme was found to be more sensitive to inhibition by theophylline and to activation by imidazole. Further studies are needed to clarify its precise status other such enzymes may be discovered in the future. 

G. Physiological Function of Nucleoside 3, 5 -Cyclic Phosphate Diesterase... 

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