Vincent Manganiello

Since cAMP blocks meiotic maturation of mammalian and amphibian oocytes in vitro and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 3A (PDE3A) is primarily responsible for oocyte cAMP hydrolysis, we generated PDE3A-deficient mice by homologous recombination. The Pde3a(-/-) females were viable and ovulated a normal number of oocytes but were completely infertile, because ovulated oocytes were arrested at the germinal vesicle stage and, therefore, could not be fertilized. Pde3a(-/-) oocytes lacked cAMP-specific PDE activity, contained increased cAMP levels, and failed to undergo spontaneous maturation in vitro (up to 48 hours). Meiotic maturation in Pde3a(-/-) oocytes was restored by inhibiting protein kinase A (PKA) with adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate, Rp-isomer (Rp-cAMPS) or by injection of protein kinase inhibitor peptide (PKI) or mRNA coding for phosphatase CDC25, which confirms that increased cAMP-PKA signaling is responsible for the meiotic blockade. Pde3a(-/-) oocytes that underwent germinal vesicle breakdown showed activation of MPF and MAPK, completed the first meiotic division extruding a polar body, and became competent for fertilization by spermatozoa. We believe that these findings provide the first genetic evidence indicating that resumption of meiosis in vivo and in vitro requires PDE3A activity. Pde3a(-/-) mice represent an in vivo model where meiotic maturation and ovulation are dissociated, which underscores inhibition of oocyte maturation as a potential strategy for contraception.

NCTC 2071 cells are unable to synthesize the monosialoganglioside GM1. When grown in chemically defined medium these cells contained no detectable GM1 and did not accumulate 3': 5'-cyclic AMP in response to choleragen. Incubation of the cells with [3H]GM1 permitted quantification of ganglioside uptake which was dependent on time and concentration of [3H]GM1 in the medium. Responsiveness to choleragen was demonstrated with binding of as few as 17,000 molecules of [3H]GM1 per cell; a maximal response was observed with 10(5) molecules per cell. With increasing cellular content of GM1, the rate of rise in intracellular cyclic AMP in response to choleragen was increased. With greater than 1 X 10(5) molecules of GM1 per cell, the delay between addition of choleragen and the cyclic AMP response was inversely proportional to choleragen concentration; less than 250 molecules of choleragen per cell caused a significant increase in cyclic AMP after 8 hr of incubation. Although the responsiveness of intact cells to choleragen was dependent on GM1, choleragen activation of adenylate cyclase in homogenates with 0.6 mM NAD was independent of added ganglioside. These observations are consistent with the view that exogenous ganglioside GM1 can be functionally integrated into the surface membrane of intact cells and serve as the choleragen receptor. Furthermore, although exogenous GM1 is required for choleragen responsiveness in intact cells, the ganglioside does not play an obligatory role in cell homogenates, where the surface receptor can presumably be bypassed.

Choleragen and the isolated A protomer catalyzed the hydrolysis of NAD to ADP-ribose and nicotinamide. The protein with NADase activity (NAD nucleosidase; NAD glycohydrolase, EC 3-2-2-5) migrated on polyacrylamide gels with choleragen, and chromatographed on Bio-Gel P-60 columns with the A protomer. The NADase activity of choleragen and of the A protomer was increased markedly in acetate and phosphate buffers, and enhanced over 10-fold by dithiothreitol in high concentration. NAD hydrolysis was proportional to choleragen concentration; the Michaelis constant for NAD was about 4 mM with both choleragen and the A protomer. The demonstration that the A protomer of choleragen catalyzes an enzymatic reaction involving activation of the ribosyl-nicotinamide bond of NAD, a reaction analogols to those catalyzed by diphtheria toxin, supports the hypothesis that activation of adenylate cyclase by choleragen involves the ADP-ribosylation of an appropriate acceptor protein.

By catalyzing hydrolysis of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases are critical regulators of their intracellular concentrations and their biological effects. As these intracellular second messengers control many cellular homeostatic processes, dysregulation of their signals and signaling pathways initiate or modulate pathophysiological pathways related to various disease states, including erectile dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension, acute refractory cardiac failure, intermittent claudication, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and psoriasis. Alterations in expression of PDEs and PDE-gene mutations (especially mutations in PDE6, PDE8B, PDE11A, and PDE4) have been implicated in various diseases and cancer pathologies. PDEs also play important role in formation and function of multimolecular signaling/regulatory complexes, called signalosomes. At specific intracellular locations, individual PDEs, together with pathway-specific signaling molecules, regulators, and effectors, are incorporated into specific signalosomes, where they facilitate and regulate compartmentalization of cyclic nucleotide signaling pathways and specific cellular functions. Currently, only a limited number of PDE inhibitors (PDE3, PDE4, PDE5 inhibitors) are used in clinical practice. Future paths to novel drug discovery include the crystal structure-based design approach, which has resulted in generation of more effective family-selective inhibitors, as well as burgeoning development of strategies to alter compartmentalized cyclic nucleotide signaling pathways by selectively targeting individual PDEs and their signalosome partners.