Role of adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase and cAMP levels in ATP-dependent mitogenesis in Swiss 3T3 cells.

To investigate the role of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and cAMP levels in ATP-dependent mitogenesis, Swiss 3T3 cells were transfected with an expression vector coding for (i) a mutated regulatory subunit of PKA (PKA mutant) or (ii) a yeast low Km cAMP phosphodiesterase gene (PDE mutant). The PKA mutant showed 70% reduced PKA activity. Phosphodiesterase activity increased 2.5-fold in the PDE mutant, leading to a great reduction of cAMP levels stimulated by ATP and other cAMP-increasing agents. The mitogenic responses of PKA and PDE mutants to insulin, epidermal growth factor, or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate were not significantly changed. However, the further stimulation by ATP, ADP, and adenosine 5'-(beta,gamma-imido)triphosphate in the presence of these growth factors was reduced by > 80%. Mitogenic effect of prostaglandin E2, forskolin, cholera toxin, or adenosine was inhibited in both mutants. The mitogenic stimulation by dibutyryl cAMP, which is resistant to phosphodiesterase, was inhibited in the PKA mutant, but not in the PDE mutant. A partial reduction of platelet-derived growth factor- or bombesin-stimulated mitogenesis, which involves protein kinase C as well as the cAMP signal, was observed in the mutants. These genetic results confirm pharmacological data on the role of PKA and cAMP levels in mitogenesis due to ATP and other growth factors.