title: Spontaneous and receptor-controlled soluble guanylyl cyclase activity in anterior pituitary cells.
abstract: Nitric oxide (NO)-dependent soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) is operative in mammalian cells, but its presence and the role in cGMP production in pituitary cells have been incompletely characterized. Here we show that sGC is expressed in pituitary tissue and dispersed cells, enriched lactotrophs and somatotrophs, and GH(3) immortalized cells, and that this enzyme is exclusively responsible for cGMP production in unstimulated cells. Basal sGC activity was partially dependent on voltage-gated calcium influx, and both calcium-sensitive NO synthases (NOS), neuronal and endothelial, were expressed in pituitary tissue and mixed cells, enriched lactotrophs and somatotrophs, and GH(3) cells. Calcium-independent inducible NOS was transiently expressed in cultured lactotrophs and somatotrophs after the dispersion of cells, but not in GH(3) cells and pituitary tissue. This enzyme participated in the control of basal sGC activity in cultured pituitary cells. The overexpression of inducible NOS by lipopolysaccharide + interferon-gamma further increased NO and cGMP levels, and the majority of de novo produced cGMP was rapidly released. Addition of an NO donor to perifused pituitary cells also led to a rapid cGMP release. Calcium-mobilizing agonists TRH and GnRH slightly increased basal cGMP production, but only when added in high concentrations. In contrast, adenylyl cyclase agonists GHRH and CRF induced a robust increase in cGMP production, with EC(50)s in the physiological concentration range. As in cells overexpressing inducible NOS, the stimulatory action of GHRH and CRF was preserved in cells bathed in calcium-deficient medium, but was not associated with a measurable increase in NO production. These results indicate that sGC is present in secretory anterior pituitary cells and is regulated in an NO-dependent manner through constitutively expressed neuronal and endothelial NOS and transiently expressed inducible NOS, as well as independently of NO by adenylyl cyclase coupled-receptors.
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Reproduction Research Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-4510, USA.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Kostic
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Andric
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Stojilkovic
mesh_terms: D015056:1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D006146:Guanidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase / Q000378:metabolism*; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008297:Male; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013973:Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D006146:Guanidines; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; D013973:Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase; D006152:Cyclic GMP; C004479:pimagedine; D002118:Calcium; D015056:1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester