Biphasic effects of carbachol on stimulated cAMP accumulation in mouse parotid acini

Carbachol (0.1-10 microM) augmented the isoproterenol-stimulated adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation by approximately 50% in mouse parotid acini; at carbachol concentrations > 10 microM the stimulatory trend was reduced. These effects were time dependent. In the presence of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), the overall response to carbachol was an inhibition of the isoproterenol response. Pretreatment of acini with pertussis toxin failed to reverse this inhibition, suggesting that the effects of carbachol were not related to effects on the GTP binding protein, Gi. A-23187 mimicked the effects of carbachol on isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP accumulation in the presence and absence of IBMX. In the presence of IBMX, carbachol failed to inhibit isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP accumulation when calcium was absent from the extracellular media and depleted from intracellular stores by thapsigargin. By contrast, in the absence of IBMX, removal of calcium abolished augmentation of isoproterenol responses by low concentrations of carbachol, whereas at higher carbachol concentrations isoproterenol responses were significantly inhibited; the time to maximal cAMP accumulation was decreased approximately eightfold. The results show that the mechanisms underlying the effects of carbachol on cAMP metabolism involve both the enzymes that synthesize and degrade cAMP.