Role of cyclic GMP in cholinergic activation of Na-K pump in duck salt gland.

Na-K-ATPase will hydrolyze an alternate substrate, p-nitrophenylphosphate (pNPP). The hydrolysis is ouabain sensitive and occurs at an external site on the cell membrane, thereby allowing measurement of Na-K-ATPase activity in the intact cell. pNPP hydrolysis was monitored in salt gland slices incubated in a bicarbonate-buffered Ringer solution. Methacholine-stimulated pNPP hydrolysis was inhibited by either atropine or ouabain. The hydrolysis was also dependent on the presence of calcium and sodium in the Ringer solution. cGMP stimulated ouabain-sensitive pNPP hydrolysis at concentrations from 10(-8) M to 10(-4) M with an optimum at 10(-5) M. cAMP did not produce a significant activation of pNPP hydrolysis. The effect of cGMP ws not dependent on either sodium or calcium in the Ringer solution and was not inhibited by atropine. Hydrolysis of pNPP promoted by either methacholine or cGMP occurred under conditions where no net influx of Na+ into the cells could occur. Sodium-pump activation during cholinergic stimulation, therefore, does not depend on an elevation of cell sodium but must occur by another mechanism. cGMP appears to play a direct role in that mechanism.