Kinetics and concentration dependency of cAMP-induced desensitization of a subpopulation of surface cAMP receptors in Dictyostelium discoideum

Extracellular cAMP induces the rapid activation of guanylate cyclase, which adapts within 10 s to constant cAMP concentrations. A new response can be induced either by a higher cAMP concentration or by the same cAMP concentration at some time (t1/2 = 90 s) after removal of the previous stimulus. Stimulation of guanylate cyclase is supposed to be mediated by a subpopulation of cell surface cAMP receptors (B-sites). These sites can exist in three states, BF, BS, and BSS, which interconvert in a cAMP and guanine nucleotide dependent manner. It has been proposed that the transition of BS to BSS represents the activation of a guanine nucleotide regulatory protein. Binding of [3H]cAMP to these sites was measured after a short preincubation with an identical concentration of nonradioactive cAMP. [3H]cAMP could still bind to BF and BS, but not to BSS, indicating that the transition of BS to BSS is blocked by the preincubation with cAMP. This blockade was rapid and showed first-order kinetics with t1/2 = 4 s. A half-maximal blockade was induced by 0.7 nM cAMP; at this concentration only 5% of the B-sites are occupied with cAMP. The blockade of the transition of BS to BSS was released by two conditions: (i) When the concentration of cAMP was increased, the blockade was released within a few seconds. (ii) When cAMP was removed, the blockade was released slowly with t1/2 = 90 s. Finally, cAMP did not induce the blockade under conditions where guanylate cyclase did not adapt, i.e., at 0 °C and in cells starved for 2 h or less. These results suggest that the interaction of cAMP with the B-sites induces a rapid and reversible blockade of the terminal step in the generation of an active G-protein and that this blockade could be the molecular basis of adaptation of guanylate cyclase.