Forskolin and 3‐Isobutyl‐l‐Methylxanthine Increase Basal and Sodium Nitroprusside‐Elevated Cyclic GMP Levels in Adult Guinea‐Pig Cerebellar Slices

Abstract
In this study, the interaction between 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and 3′,5′-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in [3H]adenine-or [3H]-guanine-prelabelled adult guinea-pig cerebellar slices was investigated. Basal levels of [3H]cGMP were enhanced by forskolin, although no plateau was reached over the concentration range tested (0.1-100 μM). However, forskolin elicited a concentration-dependent, saturable potentiation of sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-stimulated [3H]cGMP accumulation (forskolin EC50 value of 0.98 β 0.23 μM; 10 μM forskolin produced a 1.8 β 0.3-fold potentiation of the SNP response at 2.5 min). The forskolin potentiation was observed at all concentrations of SNP tested (0.001-10 mM). forskolin also elicited a large stimulation of [3H]-cAMP in [3H]adenine-prelabelled guinea-pig cerebellar slices; however, 1,9-dideoxyforskolin failed to elicit either a [3H]cAMP response or a potentiation of the SNP-induced [3H]cGMP response at concentrations up to 100 μM. Pretreatment with oxyhaemoglobin (50 μM) inhibited the response to SNP (1 mM) and forskolin (10 μM), as well as the response evoked by the combination of SNP and forskolih. AG-Nitro-l-arginine (100 μM) inhibited the response to forskolin alone, but did not change the response to SNP or the potentiation induced by forskolin on SNP-induced [3H]cGMP levels. The protein kinase inhibitors 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H7; 100 μM), staurosporine (10 μM), polymyxin B (100 μM), and Ro 31-8220 (10 μM) had no effect on the [3H]cGMP response to either SNP or the combination of SNP plus forskolin. N6,2′-Dibutyryl cAMP, at concentrations up to 10 mM, was also without effect on [3H]cGMP levels induced by SNP. 3-lso-butyl-1-methylxanthine reproduced the effect of forskolin on SNP-induced [3H]cGMP levels, but a less-than-additive effect was observed when the response to SNP was studied in the presence of forskolin and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine. Taken together, these results infer that crosstalk between cyclic nucleotides takes place in guinea-pig cerebellar slices, and that cAMP may regulate cGMP-mediated responses in this tissue.