Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 4, 2712-2717, Copyright © 1984 by Society for Neuroscience
Calmodulin stimulates adenylate cyclase activity and increases dopamine activation in bovine retina
ME Gnegy, N Muirhead, JM Roberts-Lewis and G Treisman
Adenylate cyclase activity in bovine retina is highly responsive to Ca2+
and the endogenous Ca2+-binding protein, calmodulin (CaM). CaM stimulated
adenylate cyclase activity in washed particulate fractions of bovine retina
by 6.6-fold in a Ca2+-dependent manner. Activation of adenylate cyclase
activity by CaM was maximal at 0.12 microM free Ca2+. The apparent Ka for
calmodulin stimulation of adenylate cyclase was 67 nM and the apparent Vmax
was 116 pmol/min/mg of protein above basal activity. Adenylate cyclase
activity in bovine retina was stimulated approximately 50% by guanosine
5'-triphosphate (GTP), but the nonhydrolyzable GTP analogue,
guanosine-5'-(beta, gamma- imido)triphosphate (Gpp(NH)p), was able to
activate the enzyme nearly 5- fold. CaM and Gpp(NH)p appeared to be
partially competitive activators of adenylate cyclase in the retina
particulate fraction. Dopamine stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in the
presence of GTP with an apparent Ka of 1.0 microM and an apparent Vmax of
66 pmol/min/mg of protein. Ca2+ and CaM increased the apparent Vmax of the
dopamine- stimulated adenylate cyclase activity more than 2-fold to a level
of 146 pmol/min/mg of protein but did not alter the apparent Ka. This
suggests that CaM is an endogenous modulator of dopamine-stimulated
adenylate cyclase activity in the retina. CaM-stimulated adenylate cyclase
activity may be a common component to retina since we found this activity
in retinas from rabbit, rat, and goldfish as well as cow.