Direct modification of the membrane adenylate cyclase system by islet-activating protein due to ADP-ribosylation of a membrane protein.

GTP and isoproterenol activation of adenylate cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1] in washed membranes prepared from C6 gliomas cells was enhanced by incubation with islet-activating protein, one of the pertussis toxins, if the incubation mixture was supplemented with NAD and ATP. The action of the protein was observed immediately after its addition and increased progressively in magnitude as the protein concentration or the incubation time increased. There was simultaneous incorporation of radioactivity from the ADP-ribose moiety of variously labeled NAD into the membrane protein with a molecular weight of 41,000. We conclude that islet-activating protein enhances receptor-mediated GTP-induced activation of membrane adenylate cyclase as a result of ADP-ribosylation of a membrane protein, probably one of the components of the receptor-adenylate cyclase system.