Dual elevation of cyclic AMP and inositol phosphates in response to mechanical deformation of murine osteoblasts.

Mechanical deformation of bone cells was thought to be mediated via prostaglandin production and the cyclic AMP pathway. We present evidence that the phosphoinositide pathway is also activated by mechanical stress. We find that inositol phosphate production, but not glycerophosphoinositol production, is elevated, and the activation of adenylate cyclase is relatively small. These results are not compatible with the proposal that mechanical deformation of bone cells acts solely via prostaglandin synthesis.