The present study investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO)/cGMP signal transduction in the M 3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR)-stimulated increase in aquaporin-5 (AQP5) levels in the apical plasma membrane (APM) of rat parotid glands. Pretreatment of rat parotid tissue with the NO scavenger 2-(4carboxyphe-nyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-imidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide potassium inhibited both acetylcholine (ACh)-and pilocarpine-induced increases in AQP5 in the APM. NO donors [3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1) and (S)-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP)] mimicked the effects of mAChR agonists. A selective protein kinase G inhibitor [(9S,10R,12R)-2,3,9,10,11,12-hexahydro-10-methoxy-2,9-dimethyl-1-oxo-9,12-epoxy-1H-diindolo-[1,2,3-fg-3Ј,2Ј,1Ј-kl]pyrrolo [3,4-i] . These results suggest that NO/cGMP signal transduction has a crucial role in Ca 2ϩ homeostasis in the mAChR-stimulated increase in AQP5 levels in the APM of rat parotid glands.Several aquaporins (AQPs), which form water channels that selectively transport water across the plasma membrane, have been cloned from a variety of mammalian tissues (King and Agre, 1996). In the gastrointestinal tract, more than seven AQPs are known to be expressed: AQP1 in intrahepatic cholangiocytes; AQP4 in gastric parietal cells; AQP3 and AQP4 in colonic surface epithelium; AQP5 in salivary glands; AQP7 in small intestine; AQP8 in liver, pancreas, colon, and salivary glands; and AQP9 in liver (Ma and Verkman, 1999). AQP5 was cloned from the rat submandibular gland (Raina et al., 1995). The nucleotide sequence of AQP5 reveals 45 and 63% homology with AQP1 and AQP2, respectively (Raina et al., 1995). Salivary fluid secretion is defective in transgenic mice lacking AQP5, indicating that AQP5 is important in salivary gland function Krane et al., 2001). The sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves in rat parotid glands regulate the role of AQP5. Acetylcholine (ACh) and epinephrine acting at M 3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChR) and ␣ 1 -adrenoceptors, respectively, inThis work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.ABBREVIATIONS: AQP, aquaporin; ACh, acetylcholine; mAChR, muscarinic acetylcholine receptor; APM, apical plasma membrane; SNI-2011, cevimeline hydrochloride; PLC, phospholipase C; IP 3, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate; DAG, 1,2-diacylglycerol; PKC, protein kinase C; CaM, calmodulin; MLCK, myosin light chain kinase; NOS, nitric-oxide synthase; GC, guanylate cyclase; NO, nitric oxide; PKG, protein kinase G; BAPTA-AM, 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,NЈ,NЈ-tetraacetic acid-acetoxymethyl ester; Carboxy-PTIO, 2-(4carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-imidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide potassium; IBMX, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine; SIN-1, 3-morpholinosydnonimine; SNAP, (S)-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine; KN-62; (8)-5-isoquinolinesulfonic acid, 4-[2-(5-isoquinolinyl-sulfonyl)methylamino]-3-oxo-(4-phenyl-1-piperazinyl)-propyl]phenyl ester; ML9, (5-chloronaphthalene-1-sulfonyl...