Transduction of arginine vasopressin signal in skeletal myogenic cells.

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) induced concentration-dependent (10(-9) to 10(-6) M) stimulation of inositol phosphate production and a biphasic increment of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in skeletal myogenic cells in culture. These effects were almost completely abolished when the cells were pretreated with the AVP antagonist [deamino-Pen1,Val4,D-Arg8]-vasopressin before stimulation with AVP, thus confirming a V1 receptor-mediated effect. Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate production was maximally stimulated within 2-3 s of treatment with AVP, immediately followed by release of Ca2+ from intracellular deposits. Both effects were inhibited by treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA). Such effect of TPA was reversed by the protein kinase C inhibitor staurosporine. Vasopressin also regulated the intracellular pH of responsive cells with mechanisms involving both Na+ and anion transport across the plasma membrane. However, unlike in other cell types, AVP stimulated the Na(+)-H+ antiport only simultaneously with a dramatic cell acidification or after treatment with TPA. Response to AVP was observed in L6 and L5 and, to a lesser extent, in chick embryo myogenic cells, regardless of the stage of differentiation (myoblast or myotube). Comparison of different subclones of the L6 cell line demonstrated that the responsiveness to AVP correlated positively with their myogenic potential.