The Ca 2؉ -sensitive adenylyl cyclases (ACs) are exclusively regulated by capacitative Ca 2؉ entry (CCE) in nonexcitable cells. The present study investigates whether this Ca 2؉ -dependent modulation of AC activity is further regulated by local pH changes that can arise beneath the plasma membrane as a consequence of cellular activity. Ca 2؉ stimulation of AC8 expressed in HEK 293 cells and inhibition of endogenous AC6 in C6-2B glioma cells exhibited clear sensitivity to modest pH changes in vitro. Acid pH (pH 7.14) reduced the Ca 2؉ sensitivity of both ACs, whereas alkaline pH (pH 7.85) enhanced the responsiveness of the enzymes to Ca 2؉ , compared with controls (pH 7.50). Surprisingly, in the intact cell, the response of AC8 and AC6 to CCE was largely unperturbed by similar changes in intracellular pH (pH i ), imposed using a weak acid (propionate) or weak base (trimethylamine). A range of hypotheses were tested to identify the mechanism(s) that could underlie this lack of pH effect in the intact cell. The pH sensitivity of CCE in HEK 293 cells is likely to dampen the effects of pH i on Ca 2؉ -regulated ACs and may partly explain the discrepancy between in vitro and in vivo data. However, we have found that the Na ؉ /H ؉ exchanger (NHE), NHE1, is functionally active in these cells, and like AC8 (and AC6) it resides in lipid rafts or caveolae, which may create cellular microdomains where pH i is tightly regulated. An abundance of NHE1 in these cellular subdomains may generate a privileged environment that protects the Ca 2؉ -sensitive ACs and other caveolar proteins from local acid shifts.
Intracellular pH (pH i )1 is a fundamental determinant of cell function that, until recently, was considered to be tightly regulated due to rapid H ϩ diffusion, buffering, and ion transport mechanisms. However, it is now recognized that modest fluctuations in pH i can arise during "physiological" cellular activity (1-9). Furthermore, recent studies have provided evidence for pH i microdomains just beneath the plasma membrane, which can exhibit transient pH shifts on the order of several tenths of a pH unit, as a consequence of the local activity of plasma membrane transporters (10 -12). Fluctuations of [H ϩ ] within these microdomains could potentially exert profound effects on the numerous cellular proteins residing within or near the plasma membrane, including the cAMP-producing adenylyl cyclase (AC). Early in vitro studies of plasma membrane preparations demonstrated that the catalytic activity of AC is steeply pH-dependent, over the range of pH 6.0 -8.5, where acidification or alkalinization, respectively, decreases or increase cAMP synthesis (13-15).In addition to the pH dependence of AC catalytic activity, the Ca 2ϩ sensitivity of the Ca 2ϩ -regulated ACs is also likely to be highly pH-sensitive. Four of the nine AC isoforms cloned to date are regulated by submicromolar concentrations of Ca 2ϩ . AC1 and AC8 are stimulated by Ca 2ϩ acting via calmodulin, whereas AC5 and AC6 are inhibited, independently of calmodulin (16)...