1. Approx. 10% of the rat liver cellular cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity was associated with a plasma-membrane fraction. 2. Lineweaver-Burk plots of this activity were clearly non-linear, yielding extrapolated Km values of 0.7 and 60.6 microns. 3. Treatment of these membranes with high-ionic-strength NaCl solutions apparently released 80% of this activity assayed at 0.4 micron-cyclic AMP, and 15% of the activity assayed at 1 mM-cyclic AMP. 4. The high-salt-solubilized enzyme gave a non-linear Lineweaver-Burk plot. 5. The cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity of the washed high-salt-treated membranes exhibited a linear Lineweaver-Burk plot, yielding a Km of 60 microns. 6. The high-salt-solubilized enzyme exhibited a single peak of activity upon polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, a single peak upon sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation (3.9 S) and decayed as a single exponential upon heat-treatment (half-life 1 min at 55 degrees C). 7. The activity of washed high-salt-treated membranes decayed as a single exponential upon heat-treatment (half-life 42 min at 55 degrees C), and was solubilized in the detergent Triton X-100. 8. Cytosol-derived cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity could bind to washed high-salt-treated plasma membranes, but was totally eluted by washing with 1 mM-KHCO3, unlike the high-salt-solubilized enzyme, which required high salt concentrations to elute it. 9. We suggest that the cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity of rat liver plasma membranes can be resolved into two components: a single peripheral protein exhibiting apparent negative co-operativity, that is distinct from cytosol forms, and an intrinsic protein exhibiting normal Michaelis kinetics.

Regulation of blood glucose levels by the liver is primarily achieved by the action of two peptide hormones, insulin and glucagon, which bind to specific receptors associated with the hepatocyte plasma membrane. Whilst the molecular action of glucagon at the level of the cell plasma membrane in activating adenylate cyclase is relatively well understood, we know little, if anything, of the molecular consequences of insulin occupying its receptor. We demonstrate here that insulin, at physiologically relevant concentrations, can trigger the cyclic AMP-dependent activation and phosphorylation of a low Km cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase attached to the liver plasma membrane. Such an effect may in part explain the ability of insulin to inhibit the increase in cellular cyclic AMP content that glucagon alone produces by activation of adenylate cyclase. Our observation that basal, intracellular cyclic AMP levels are insufficient to allow insulin to activate the cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, yet those cyclic AMP levels achieved after exposure of the cells to glucagon are sufficient, gives a molecular rationale to Butcher and Sutherland's proposal that it is necessary to first elevate cellular cyclic AMP levels before they can be depressed by insulin.

The peripheral high-affinity cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase from rat liver plasma membranes was purified to apparent homogeneity. The procedure used involved the initial purification of liver plasma membranes and the solubilization of the enzyme by using a high-ionic-strength medium. This was followed by chromatography of the enzyme on DEAE-cellulose, Affi-Gel Blue, a novel affinity column and Sephadex G-100. A 9500-fold purification of the enzyme with a 24% yield was achieved by this procedure. The purified enzyme was apparently monomeric (Mr 52000) as it exhibited identical molecular weights on analysis by gel filtration, sedimentation and sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. It is suggested that the non-Michaelis kinetics exhibited by the enzyme are due to it obeying a mnemonical mechanism, where it displays Km 0.7 micrometer, Vmax. 9.1 units/mg of protein and Hill coefficient (h) 0.62. Cyclic GMP acts as a poor substrate for the enzyme, with Km 120 micrometer and Vmax. 0.4 unit/mg of protein, and also as an inhibitor of the enzyme, with I50 (concentration giving 50% inhibition) 150 micrometer when assayed at 0.4 micrometer-cyclic AMP. Inhibition by 5'-AMP is unlikely to be of physiological importance, as it is only a weak inhibitor of the enzyme (I50 47 mM assayed at 0.4 micrometer-cyclic AMP).

No abstract

Incubation of intact purified rat liver plasma membranes with insulin, cyclic AMP and ATP led to the activation of the peripheral "low-Km" cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase. When (gamma-32P]ATP was included in the incubation mixture, after purification of this enzyme to homogeneity it was found to contain 1 mol of alkali-labile 32P/mol of enzyme. Treatment of the homogeneous phosphorylated enzyme with alkaline phosphatase released all of the 32P from the protein while restoring its activity to the native state. The reversibility of the activation that is achieved by the phosphorylation of this enzyme could also be demonstrated with a high-speed supernatant from rat liver. This restored the activity of the activated membrane-bound enzyme to its native state. The Ka for the cyclic AMP-dependence of this process (1.6 micrometer) was unaffected by a range of ATP concentrations (1-10 mM) and by a range of membrane protein concentrations (0.2-2 mg/ml). Adenylyl imidodiphosphate could not substitute for ATP, and concanavalin A could not substitute for insulin, as essential ligands in the activation process. The purified activated enzyme exhibited Km 0.6 microM, Vmax 10.9 units/mg of protein and Hill coefficient (h) 0.47. The Vmax. for this activated enzyme was much higher than that of the native enzyme, yet h was much lower.