Effect of cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate and theophylline on lymphocyte transformation.

Abstract

Shortly after polypeptide hormones act on target tissues, the tissues undergo a series of morphologic changes that can be related to the rearrangement of vacuolar systems. Thus thyroid-stimulating hormone induces endocytosis of thyroglobulin, parathyroid hormone induces the bulk exocytosis of lysosomal hydrolases and hydrogen ions from osteoclasts, glucagon stimulates the formation of autophagic vacuoles in liver, and melanophore-stimulating hormone induces the rearrangement of melanosomes in skin (1, 2). Since cyclic 3′, 5′-adenosine monophosphate (cA MP) has been implicated as the “second messenger” for these effects of hormones upon target tissues, it appeared possible that adenine nucleotides might regulate other functions of the vacuolar system in various cell types. Evidence suggesting that increments in the level of intracellular cAMP may inhibit granule flow and merger has been obtained by Lichtenstein and Margolis (3), who found that both theophylline and dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dcAMP) inhibited th...