Activation of protein kinase C potentiates isoprenaline-induced cyclic AMP accumulation in rat pinealocytes

1 March 1985

journal article
letter
Published by Springer Nature in Nature

Vol. 314 (6009) , 359-361
https://doi.org/10.1038/314359a0

Abstract

The pineal gland has proven to be an excellent model for the study of adrenergic control systems¹. Noradrenaline, released from sympathetic nerve terminals in the pineal gland, regulates a large nocturnal increase in melatonin synthesis by stimulating the activity of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT, EC 2.3.1.87) 30–70-fold^1,2. An essential step in both the induction and maintenance of high NAT activity is an increase in intracellular cyclic AMP^3,4. Noradrenaline acts via β-adrenoceptors to increase pineal cyclic AMP by activating adenylate cyclase⁵, and the activation of pineal α₁-adrenoceptors⁶ potentiates β-adrenergic stimulation not only of NAT^7,8 but of both cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP^9–11. Here we describe investigations designed to test whether α₁-adrenergic potentiation of β-adrenergic stimulation of pineal cyclic AMP involves protein kinase C. Our results suggest that kinase activation is involved and the data provide the first demonstration of a synergistic interaction between Ca²⁺-phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C) and neurotransmitter-dependent stimulation of cyclic AMP.

Keywords

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