Regulation of hormone-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation in intact human mononuclear leukocytes by blood plasma.

Several hormones, including catecholamines, histamine, and prostaglandin E1, regulate the function of human mononuclear leukocytes (MNL) by stimulating the accumulation of cAMP. Isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP accumulation in MNL isolated and washed at 4 degrees is five times greater than in cells prepared at ambient temperature. The current study was aimed at understanding this difference. cAMP accumulation in MNL prepared at ambient temperature could not be increased by chilling the cells for 4 hours. Warming MNL prepared at 4 degrees for 30 min, however, reduced later isoproterenol-, histamine-, and PGE1-stimulated cAMP accumulation by 65-85% without altering forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation and without altering cellular viability or ATP content. In broken cell preparations, there was no difference in either adenylate cyclase or phosphodiesterase activities, and no difference in the binding of isoproterenol to the beta-adrenergic receptors. The reduction in isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP accumulation in warmed intact cells was reversed when the MNL were incubated with autologous leukocyte-depleted blood or with plasma. These data suggest the presence of one or more factors in plasma that enhances hormone-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in intact MNL.