Hormonal tolerance to ethanol is associated with decreased expression of the GTP-binding protein, Gs alpha, and adenylyl cyclase activity in ethanol-treated LS mice.

Using the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) system as a marker, long sleep (LS) and short sleep (SS) lines of mice were investigated to explore the cellular events that occur during the acquisition of hormonal tolerance to ethanol. Four-day ethanol exposure (1.8 g/kg/24 hr) increased anterior pituitary POMC mRNA levels 4-fold in the LS line and 2-fold in the SS line. Following 7 days of ethanol exposure (1.8 g/kg/24 hr), anterior pituitary POMC levels returned to basal values in the LS line but remained elevated (2-fold) in the SS line. In this setting, the loss of ethanol's ability to sustain elevated POMC mRNA levels in the LS line is defined as hormonal tolerance. Since POMC biosynthesis is primarily regulated through adenylyl cyclase, ethanol-induced alterations in this signal transduction system were explored. Paralleling the effects of ethanol on POMC mRNA levels, ethanol exposure reduced GTP-gamma-S, AIF3-, and MnCl2-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity by 35%, 21%, and 24%, respectively, in the LS line without effecting adenylyl cyclase activity in the SS line. To determine whether ethanol-induced changes in adenylyl cyclase activity in LS mice could result from alterations in G proteins, protein levels of G, alpha and Gi alpha were determined by western analysis before and after ethanol exposure. Paralleling the effect on POMC mRNA levels and adenylyl cyclase activity, ethanol induced a 35% reduction in Gs alpha protein levels in LS mice but did not alter Gi alpha levels. Neither Gs alpha nor Gi alpha levels were altered in the SS line.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)