Adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in reproducing and differentiated trypanosomes.

Trypanosoma lewisi, a blood protozoan of rats, undergoes differentiation from a rapidly reproducing form to a nonreproducing form in response to the host antibody ablastin. Intracellular concentrations of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP), which has been implicated in controlling reproduction in cultured mammalian cells, was measured in the two developmental forms of T. lewisi. The concentrations were significantly different, and the results support a hypothesis under which ablastin stimulates an increase in intracellular cyclic AMP.