Stimulation by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide of catecholamine synthesis in isolated bovine adrenal chromaffin cells. Possible involvement of protein kinase C.

In isolated bovine adrenal medullary cells, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) stimulated 14C-catecholamine synthesis from 14C-tyrosine, but not from 14C-DOPA. This stimulatory effect of VIP on 14C-catecholamine synthesis was not dependent upon extracellular Ca2+. VIP did not affect the intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) level. The stimulatory effect of VIP on 14C-catecholamine synthesis was additive with that of carbamylcholine, which was dependent upon extracellular Ca2+, but not with that of phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA), an activator of protein kinase C. Moreover, 1-(isoquinolinyl-sulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7), an inhibitor of protein kinase C, inhibited not only TPA-stimulated, but also VIP-stimulated 14C-catecholamine synthesis from 14C-tyrosine. These results suggested that VIP stimulated catecholamine synthesis by activation of tyrosine hydroxylase and that protein kinase C was involved in this stimulatory mechanism.