Role of phosphodiesterase in regulation of calcium current in isolated cardiac myocytes.

It has previously been shown that intracellular perfusion of isolated cardiac myocytes with cGMP reduces the amplitude of the trans-sarcolemmal calcium current (ICa) elevated by cAMP-dependent mechanisms. To test the hypothesis that cGMP acts by stimulating a cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity, PDE activity and the effects of methylisobutylxanthine (MIX), a PDE inhibitor, on ICa were examined in cardiomyocytes dissociated from frog ventricle. PDE activity was determined by measuring hydrolysis of [33P]cAMP in subcellular fractions. Using 100 microM cAMP as substrate, approximately 50% of the PDE activity was found in the 20,000 x g particulate fraction. Basal activity in this fraction had a Vmax of 15.4 nmol [corrected] of cAMP hydrolyzed/min/mg of protein and a Km of 113 microM cAMP. The PDE activity of the particulate fraction was stimulated significantly by cGMP. Half-maximal stimulation was observed with 1.1 microM cGMP. This value is virtually identical to the value for the concentration of intracellular cGMP that produced a half-maximal reduction of cAMP-elevated ICa in electrophysiological experiments. The cGMP-stimulated PDE activity had a Vmax of 9.5 nmol/min/mg [corrected] and a Km of 12.3 microM cAMP. MIX (100 microM) selectively inhibited the cGMP-stimulated PDE activity (IC50 = 20 microM). To determine whether PDEs modulate the amplitude of ICa, the effects of MIX were examined on basal ICa and cAMP-elevated ICa. MIX produced small increases in the basal ICa and increased ICa in the presence of 1 microM intracellular cAMP. MIX at 100 microM potentiated the effects of submaximal doses of isoproterenol and shifted the dose-response curve for cAMP to the left but did not affect the dose-response curve for 8-bromo-cAMP. MIX reversed the effect of cGMP on the cAMP-elevated ICa. We conclude that cyclic nucleotide PDEs play an important role in modulating the cardiac calcium current. The hypothesis that cGMP inhibits the cAMP-elevated ICa by activating a PDE is supported by the finding that MIX inhibited both the cGMP-stimulated PDE activity and the effect of cGMP on ICa at similar concentrations.