CA2+ IONOPHORE-INDUCED CYCLIC ADENOSINE-3',5'-MONOPHOSPHATE ELEVATION IN HUMAN NEUTROPHILS - A CALMODULIN-DEPENDENT POTENTIATION OF ADENYLATE-CYCLASE RESPONSE TO ENDOGENOUSLY PRODUCED ADENOSINE - COMPARISON TO CHEMOTACTIC AGENTS

The cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) elevation caused by exposure of human neutrophils to the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 was prevented when endogenously produced adenosine was either removed by preincubation with adenosine deaminase or blocked from binding to the adenosine receptor by antagonists [theophylline or (E)-4-(1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-1,3-dimethyl-2,6-dioxo-9H-purin-8-yl)cinnamic acid]. In the absence of endogenous adenosine, A23187 potentiated the neutrophil cAMP response to 2-chloroadenosine, prostaglandin El, and isoproterenol. When neutrophil suspensions were preincubated with concentrations of Ro 20-1724, which appeared to maximally inhibit cAMP phosphodiesterase, A23187 was still able to substantially elevate cAMP levels, suggesting that A23187 increases cAMP by amplifying adenylate cyclase responsiveness to the agonist rather than by inhibiting cAMP phosphodiesterase. The ability of A23187 to augment the cAMP elevation caused by 2-chloroadenosine was persistent over a 10-min period. The neutrophil cAMP elevations caused by the chemoattractants leukotriene B4, C5a, and N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (FMLP) were all prevented when endogenously produced adenosine was eliminated from the cell suspensions by the addition of adenosine deaminase. The A23187-induced cAMP elevation was inhibited completely by the calmodulin inhibitors chlorpromazine, trifluoperazine and N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-napthalenesulfonamide, whereas cAMP levels induced by FMLP, leukotriene B4 and C5a were less affected. It appears that A23187 raises cAMP in human neutrophils by a calmodulin-dependent potentiation of adenylate cyclase responsiveness to endogenously produced adenosine while the chemoattractant-induced cAMP elevations (FMLP, leukotriene B4, and C5a), although possibly Ca2+ dependent, are less sensitive to calmodulin inhibitors and may involve additional biochemical events.