Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) regulates expression of catecholamine biosynthetic enzyme genes in bovine adrenal chromaffin cells.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) elevates levels of the mRNAs encoding the catecholamine synthesizing enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH), and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) in primary cultures of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells. PACAP potently (in nanomolar concentrations) increases the amount of mRNA for each of the three catecholamine biosynthetic enzymes. At 10 nM PACAP, TH and DBH mRNA levels increase approx 10-fold; 1 nM PACAP produces an approx 2.5-fold elevation of PNMT mRNA. In contrast to depolarizing or cholinergic stimuli, PACAP does not enhance expression of 5' upstream regions of the PNMT gene transiently transfected into chromaffin cells. Nor does PACAP stimulate the rate of PNMT gene transcription, thereby indicating that the effects of this neuropeptide do not involve enhanced transcription of this gene. However, after 16 h in the presence of transcriptional inhibitors, more PNMT mRNA is present in cultures treated with PACAP relative to control cultures, whereas amounts of TH and DBH mRNAs are not changed. PACAP likely elevates PNMT mRNA levels posttranscriptionally, possibly by stabilizing this message against degradation. Thus, although PACAP is an effective regulator for expression of all three catecholamine enzyme genes, its mechanism of action on PNMT mRNA appears to be distinctive from its effects on TH and DBH gene transcription.