Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.4.1 (phosphodiesterase)
18,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An overview of the biochemical events that occur when postsynaptic pineal beta-adrenergic receptors are stimulated is presented. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the adenylate cyclase system for the induction of N-acetyltransferase (NAT). Super- and subsensitive responses of NAT to receptor agonists are related to cAMP concentration, adenylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase activities and receptor binding sites.
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PMID:Studies on the control of pineal indole synthesis: cyclic nucleotides, adenylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase. 3 99

The s.c. administration of 150mg L-dihydroxphyenylalaine/kg b.w. 15 min before the decapitation prevents the light induced decrease in nocturnal serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in the rat pineal gland. The s.c. administration of 50mg imipramine/kg b.w., resp. 100mg/kg b.w., 15 min before the decapitation, slows down, or prevents the light induced fall in the activity. The maintenance of a sufficient level of active norepinephrine on beta-receptors, either by displacement of norepinephrine in the nerve endings by dopamine, or by the inhibition of norepinephrine reuptake by imipramine, thus slows down or prevents the decrease in serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity after exposure to light during the night. The i.p. administration of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor coffeine citrate in a dose 200mg/kg 90 min after switching off the light for the night stimulated serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity 270 min after the light and been switched off, but did not influence the abrupt decrease induced in nocturnal activity by exposure to light.
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PMID:Effect of dihydroxyphenylalanine, imipramine and coffeine on the light induced decrease in nocturnal serotonin N-acetyltransferase in the rat pineal gland. 13 61

Addition of choleragen to rat pineal organ cultures caused a long-lasting stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity, and this was followed by increases in seroton N-acetyltransferase and cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase activities. These effects of choleragen were not blocked by the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol, but the increases in cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase and serotonin N-acetyltransferase activities could be prevented by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. The results indicate that cholera toxin can mimic the induction of pineal enzymes that normally follows beta-adrenoceptor activation and suggest that increased cyclic adenosine monophosphate is a necessary and sufficient signal for such changes in enzyme activity.
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PMID:Cholera toxin induces pineal enzymes in culture. 17 53

Dispersed pinealocytes have been used to study the role of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) in the "turnoff" of N-acetyltransferace activity. Activity was first stimulated 100-fold by treating cells with 1-norepinephrine. 1-Propranolol acted stereospecifically to rapidly reverse this, resulting in a 70 percent loss of enzyme activity within 15 minutes. An even more rapid 1-propranolol-induced decreased in cyclic AMP also occurred. This together with the observation that the inhibitory effect of 1-propranolol on N-acetyltransferase was blocked by dibutyryl cyclic AMP and phosphodiesterase inhibitors indicate that an abrupt decrease in cyclic AMP may be the signal for the rapid decrease in pineal N-acetyltransferase activity.
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PMID:Pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity: abrupt decrease in adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate may be signal for "turnoff". 20 27

In retinas and pineal glands of rat, rabbit and hen, activities of the penultimate (and key regulatory) enzyme in melatonin biosynthesis, serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT), display distinct diurnal variations, with high and low values during dark and light phase of a 12-h dark: 12-h light illumination cycle. Two-hour incubation (during daytime hours in light) of isolated pineal glands of the studied vertebrates, or the retinas, with 50 microM forskolin (plus 100 microM 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, IBMX-a phosphodiesterase inhibitor), and 1 mM dibutyryl-cAMP, markedly increased the tissue NAT activity. The same procedures significantly enhanced the enzyme activity of rat retina in light, however, only during nighttime hours. The forskolin (+ IBMX)-induced increase of NAT activity in rat retina was significantly lower in a calcium-free medium, and substantially enhanced when calcium concentration was raised from 1.3 mM to 3.9 mM. Treatment of rats with IBMX or aminophylline, and rabbits with aminophylline, increased NAT activity in their pineal glands irrespective of the time of the day, whereas both phosphodiesterase inhibitors significantly increased the enzyme activity of rat retina only when injected during the subjective dark hours. It is concluded that, by analogy to vertebrate pineal gland, in vertebrate retina an increase of NAT activity (and consequently melatonin formation), stimulated both physiologically (i. e. at night), or pharmacologically, involves a cAMP- and calcium dependent process of the enzyme induction.
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PMID:Serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) induction in mammalian retina: role of cyclic AMP and calcium ions. 128 Feb 31

The in vivo effects of GABA-ergic drugs on the activity of serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) and hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT), two enzymes involved in melatonin biosynthesis, were investigated in light-exposed chicken retina. The ip administration of muscimol and baclofen (direct agonists of GABA-A and GABA-B receptors, respectively), aminooxyacetic acid (an inhibitor of GABA transaminase), and nipecotic acid (an inhibitor of GABA reuptake), significantly increased the retinal NAT activity by 50-100%. Similar rises in NAT activity were observed following intraocular treatment of ether-anesthetized chickens with muscimol, baclofen and GABA. In contrast to NAT, there was no effect of the tested drugs on the retinal HIOMT activity. Aminophylline (a phosphodiesterase inhibitor) markedly elevated the retinal NAT activity, and a combined treatment with the GABA-ergic drugs and aminophylline resulted in additive effects. The actions of both muscimol and baclofen were antagonized by picrotoxin and bicuculline (two GABA-A receptor blockers), whereas the effect of baclofen was not changed by a selective GABA-B receptor blocker, CGP 35,348. Melatonin given ip significantly raised NAT activity, and its combination with muscimol further stimulated the enzyme. Picrotoxin and bicuculline given to chickens during the dark phase of 12 h light--12 h dark illumination cycle significantly suppressed the nocturnal NAT activity in retina. Neither GABA nor muscimol and baclofen significantly affected basal and forskolin (1 microM)-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in vitro in light-exposed chicken retina. It is concluded that a GABA signal (acting through type A of GABA receptors) plays an important role in a complex mechanism regulating the rhythmic melatonin biosynthesis in vertebrate retina.
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PMID:The role of GABA-ergic signal in the regulation of melatonin biosynthesis in vertebrate retina. 130 60

The molecular mechanism underlying the role of calcium influx in the regulation of retinal serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity was studied in vivo in chickens. Systemic administration of organic antagonists of voltage-sensitive calcium channels (VSCC), i.e., nimodipine and nifedipine, resulted in a marked suppression of the nocturnal increase of NAT activity in chicken retina. In contrast, NAT activity stimulated by nonhydrolysable analogs of cyclic AMP (dibutyryl-cyclic AMP and 8-bromo-cyclic AMP), forskolin, a direct activator of adenylate cyclase, and by phosphodiesterase inhibitors (aminophylline and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine), was not significantly affected by various tested VSCC antagonists. The inhibitory effect of nimodipine on the dark-dependent increase in NAT activity of chicken retina was abolished by Bay K 8644, a selective VSCC agonist. The results presented in this paper indicate an important role of calcium influx through L-type of VSCC in the induction of NAT activity in chicken retina, and suggest that a requirement of calcium ions in the process of NAT induction in the retina may be primarily at the level of cyclic AMP production.
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PMID:Calcium channel blockers in vivo inhibit serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity in chicken retina stimulated by darkness and not by agents elevating intracellular cyclic AMP level. 133 45

The possible role of dopamine in the light-induced suppression of serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity in retinas of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) was investigated using an in vitro eye cup preparation. The nocturnal increase of retinal NAT activity was significantly inhibited by either light exposure or exogenous dopamine. Spiperone, a dopamine receptor blocker, antagonized this inhibitory effect of light on NAT activity, but had no effect in darkness. The effect of spiperone required the presence of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibitors, 3-isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX), papaverine, or Ro 20-1724. Under the conditions employed in this study, neither spiperone nor the phosphodiesterase inhibitors significantly affected NAT activity when added alone. This observation suggests a synergistic interaction between the dopaminergic antagonists and the phosphodiesterase inhibitors. Other dopamine receptor blockers, including haloperidol, cis-flupenthixol, clozapine and metoclopramide, increased NAT activity of light-exposed retinas incubated in the presence of IBMX. SCH 23390, a D1-selective dopamine receptor antagonist, did not increase NAT activity, nor did the alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists tested. The effect of spiperone and IBMX on NAT activity was blocked by apomorphine and by the D2-dopamine receptor agonist LY 171555, but not by the D1-receptor agonist SKF 38393-A. The concentration of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid was higher in light-exposed retinas than in dark-adapted retinas, suggesting that light exposure increases dopamine metabolism in Xenopus retina. The results presented in this paper suggest that dopamine, released in response to light exposure and acting on D2-dopamine receptors, is partially responsible for the light-induced suppression of the nocturnal increase in retinal NAT activity.
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PMID:Dopamine mediates the light-evoked suppression of serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in retina. 244 15

In the chicken pineal gland, norepinephrine, released at sympathetic nerve endings, plays a role in synchronizing the circadian rhythm of melatonin synthesis. This effect appears to be exerted via an adrenergic inhibition of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, the melatonin rhythm-generating enzyme. The present study indicates that the nighttime peak of N-acetyltransferase activity developed by organ-cultured chick pineal glands is inhibited by adrenergic agonists with a potency order characterizing alpha 2-adrenergic receptors: UK 14,304 greater than clonidine greater than alpha-methylnorepinephrine = epinephrine greater than cirazoline greater than phenylephrine greater than isoproterenol. The mechanism of this alpha 2-adrenergic response was further analyzed in organ cultures, by studying the ability of clonidine to block the cyclic AMP-dependent and the depolarization-dependent stimulations of N-acetyltransferase activity. Clonidine prevented the rise in N-acetyltransferase activity evoked by the adenylate cyclase activators forskolin and cholera toxin or by the phosphodiesterase inhibitor Ro 20,1724. The stimulatory effect of dibutyryl cyclic AMP was also blocked by clonidine. Activation of pineal alpha 2-adrenergic receptors effectively prevented the stimulation of N-acetyltransferase by depolarizing concentrations of KCl. The possibility that the alpha 2-adrenergic effect might be exerted at a step distal to cyclic AMP production is discussed.
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PMID:Alpha 2-adrenergic regulation of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase in organ-cultured chick pineal gland: characterization with agonists and modulation of experimentally stimulated enzyme activity. 288 97

Thus far, all attempts to stimulate melatonin synthesis by beta-adrenergic receptor agonists in the Syrian hamster pineal gland have failed. Neither a wide range of dosages of isoproterenol (0.5 mg/kg to 24 mg/kg), nor prolonged treatment with norepinephrine, the natural neurotransmitter, increased N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity or melatonin production. In the present study, the administration of isoproterenol at night was likewise ineffective in advancing or enhancing the normal nightly melatonin peak. Also, we did not find a delayed effect 7 or 8 h after the administration of the drug. Furthermore, we tested the idea of coneurotransmitters such as octopamine or dopamine being possibly necessary for stimulation, but could not find any effect of these substances on melatonin synthesis. In addition, a parasympatholytic agent, atropine, did not increase the responsiveness to sympathomimetic agents. Administration of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor was also ineffective in stimulating NAT activity. On the other hand, isoproterenol did retard the drop in NAT and melatonin after lights-on at night, indicating that beta-receptors are involved in maintaining elevated melatonin levels.
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PMID:Pharmacological studies on the regulation of N-acetyltransferase activity and melatonin content of the pineal gland of the Syrian hamster. 300 27


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