Conditional activation of cAMP signal transduction by protein kinase C. The effect of phorbol esters on adenylyl cyclase in permeabilized and intact cells.

To understand the convergence of cAMP and protein kinase C signal transduction, adenylyl cyclase isozyme identification and biochemical studies were performed on the HT4 neural cell line. In HT4 cells, basal cAMP production by adenylyl cyclase types I and VI were unaffected by phorbol esters, nor did phorbol esters have any effect on forskolin-induced cAMP production. However, phorbol esters synergistically increased cAMP production when adrenaline receptors were simultaneously activated, indicating a conditional activation of cAMP production by phorbol esters. A permeabilized cell preparation was used to analyze the mechanism by which phorbol esters were affecting cAMP production. This preparation enables G-proteins to be activated directly by GTP gamma S or bacterial toxins. In the permeabilized cell preparation, phorbol esters enhanced cAMP produced by GTP gamma S-activated G-protein. A stimulatory G-protein pathway may be involved since phorbol esters synergistically increased cAMP production by cholera toxin, yet had no effect on that produced by pertussis toxin. In this cell culture model, phorbol esters stimulate cAMP production only when some component of the cAMP cascade is simultaneously activated. Moreover, the pattern of modulation suggests that protein kinase C acts on an activated component of the second messenger system, such as the G-protein or the coupling of the G-protein with adenylyl cyclase, and not on the resting state of the protein components.