A theoretical study of the effects of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterases during aggregation in Dictyostelium.
During aggregation the larger Dictyostelium species use cAMP as a chemoattractant and possibly also as a transmitter. In passage from cell to cell, cAMP levels are modulated by diffusion and by enzyme hydrolysis. It appears that the important cAMP-hydrolysing enzyme is a phosphodiesterase bound to the cell membrane, the main roles of which are (1) very fast hydrolysis of cAMP and (2) steepening of spatial cAMP gradients. An extracellular phosphodiesterase has no function, so far as can be conjectured from present data.
D015105:3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases / Q000502:physiology*; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008433:Mathematics; D009235:Myxomycetes / Q000502:physiology*; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases / Q000502:physiology*; D011953:Receptors, Cyclic AMP
D011953:Receptors, Cyclic AMP; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; D015105:3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases