Previously, we have demonstrated that stimulation of the sympathetic nerves of the guinea pig vas deferens evokes release not only of the cotransmitters ATP and norepinephrine but also of soluble nucleotidases that break down extracellular ATP, ADP, and AMP into adenosine. In this study we show that the apparent K m values of the releasable enzyme activity vary depending on which of these adenine nucleotides is used as initial substrate. The K m value for ATP was 33.6 Ϯ 2.3 M, 21.0 Ϯ 2.3 M for ADP, and 10.0 Ϯ 1.1 M for AMP. The ratios of the V max values for each enzyme reaction were 4:2:3. We have also found a different sensitivity of the metabolism of ATP and AMP by releasable nucleotidases to known nucleotidase inhibitors. Suramin inhibited the breakdown of ATP by releasable nucleotidases in a noncompetitive manner and with a K i value of 53 M, but had no effect on the breakdown of AMP. The 5Ј-nucleotidase inhibitor ␣,-methylene ADP inhibited the breakdown of AMP but not that of ATP. Concanavalin A inhibited the breakdown of AMP but had neither inhibitory nor facilitatory effects on the breakdown of ATP. 6-N,N-Diethyl-,␥-dibromomethylene-D-ATP (ARL67156), an ecto-ATPase inhibitor, suppressed ATPase and AMPase activities, whereas NaN 3 (10 mM) affected neither reaction, but inhibited the ADP metabolism. Phosphatase-and phosphodiesterase inhibitors did not affect the activity of the releasable nucleotidases. This evidence suggests that the soluble nucleotidases released during neurogenic stimulation of the guinea pig vas deferens combine an ecto-5Ј-nucleotidase-like and an ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-like activity.ATP is released as a cotransmitter from cholinergic, adrenergic, and GABAergic neurons (Silinsky et al., 1998;Burnstock, 1999;Jo and Schlichter, 1999). Traditionally, the inactivation of neurotransmitter ATP in both the central and the peripheral nervous systems has been attributed to its breakdown by cell membrane-bound enzymes, classified as ecto-ATPases, ecto-apyrases, and ecto-5Ј-nucleotidases (Zimmermann, 1992;Plesner, 1995).We have demonstrated, however, that neurogenic stimulation of the guinea pig vas deferens dramatically accelerates the degradation of exogenous ATP (Todorov et al., 1996). The difference between the rate of degradation of extracellular ATP by tissue preparations under resting conditions and that during nerve stimulation appears to be associated with a release of enzymes that break down ATP as well as ADP and AMP into ADO (Todorov et al., 1997). Inhibition of the propagation of neuronal action potentials with tetrodotoxin, suppression of adrenergic neurotransmission with guanethidine, or inhibition of exocytosis by omission of extracellular Ca 2ϩ all prevented the release of nucleotidase activity, implying that sympathetic nerves are the source of the enzyme(s) (Todorov et al., 1997). Interestingly, the nucleotidase activity appears to be coreleased with neurotransmitter ATP and not with the sympathetic cotransmitter NE (MihaylovaTodorova et al., ...