Cross talk between cyclic nucleotides and polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis, protein kinases, and contraction in smooth muscle.

This article provides an update of a minireview published in 1996 (Abdel-Latif AA. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 211:163-177, 1996), the purpose of which was to examine in nonvascular smooth muscle the biochemical and functional cross talk between the sympathetic nervous system, which governs the formation of cAMP and muscle relaxation, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which governs the generation of IP3 and diacylglycerol, from the polyphosphoinositides, Ca2+ mobilization, and contraction. This review examines further evidence, both from nonvascular and vascular smooth muscle, for cross talk between the cyclic nucleotides, cAMP and cGMP via their respective protein kinases, and the Ca2+-dependent- and Ca2+-independent-signaling pathways involved in agonist-induced contraction. These include the IP3-Ca2+-CaM- myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) pathway and the Ca2+-independent pathways, including protein kinase C-, MAP kinase-, and Rho-kinase. In addition, MLC phosphorylation and contraction can also be increased by a decrease in myosin phosphatase activity. A summary of the cross talk between the cyclic nucleotides and these signaling pathways was presented. In smooth muscle, there are several targets for cyclic nucleotide inhibition and consequent relaxation, including the receptor, G proteins, phospholipase C-beta1-4 isoforms, IP3 receptor, Ca2+ mobilization, MLCK, MAP kinase, Rho-kinase, and myosin phosphatase. While significant progress has been made in the past four years on this cross talk, the precise mechanisms underlying the biochemical basis for the cyclic nucleotide inhibition of Ca2+ mobilization and consequently muscle contraction remain to be established. Although it is well established that second-messenger cross talk plays an important role in smooth muscle relaxation, the many sources which exist in smooth muscle for Ca2+ mobilization, coupled with the multiple signaling pathways involved in agonist-induced contraction, contribute appreciably to the difficulties found by many investigators in identifying the targets for cyclic nucleotide inhibition and consequent relaxation. Better methodology and more novel interdisciplinary approaches are required for elucidating the mechanism(s) of cAMP- and cGMP-inhibition of smooth muscle contraction.