title: Prenatal terbutaline treatment: tissue-selective dissociation of perinatal changes in beta-adrenergic receptor binding from regulation of adenylate cyclase activity.
abstract: The role of prenatal beta-receptor stimulation in development of adrenergic reactivity was examined by administering the beta-agonist, terbutaline, to pregnant rats on gestational days 17, 18 and 19. On gestational day 20, liver membrane beta-receptor binding capabilities showed the depression characteristic of down-regulation, but heart and kidney receptor binding were essentially normal. Basal adenylate cyclase activity in the fetal liver membrane preparation was unchanged by terbutaline exposure and enzymatic reactivity to beta-adrenergic stimulation showed only a slight lowering; forskolin stimulation, however, was markedly increased in the terbutaline group. By postnatal day 2, receptor binding had returned to normal in the liver and remained at control levels in the other two tissues. Responsivity of adenylate cyclase to beta-receptor stimulation was markedly elevated in heart and kidney membranes; the effect represented an alteration at the level of the cyclase itself, rather than the receptor, since both basal activity and forskolin stimulation of the enzyme showed equivalent enhancement. These data thus suggest that early beta-adrenergic stimulation promotes cellular reactivity by fostering the development of membrane transduction mechanisms, rather than through effects on the receptor ligand binding site per se.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kudlacz
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kavlock
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Slotkin
mesh_terms: D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases / Q000378:metabolism; D000318:Adrenergic beta-Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D005576:Colforsin / Q000494:pharmacology; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D008098:Litter Size / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D013726:Terbutaline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D000318:Adrenergic beta-Agonists; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta; D005576:Colforsin; D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases; D013726:Terbutaline