Respiratory tract infections caused by Bordetella pertussis are occasionally accompanied by severe neurologic disorders and encephalopathies. For these sequelae to occur the integrity of cerebral barriers needs to be compromised. The influence of pertussis toxin, a decisive virulence factor in the pathogenesis of pertussis disease, on barrier integrity was investigated in model systems for bloo...

Cholera toxin alters intestinal function by stimulation of adenylyl cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing) or adenylate cyclase, EC 4.6.1.1]. The mechanism of this activation is unknown and particularly puzzling because adenylyl cyclase is confined to the basal lateral membrane of enterocytes, whereas it is the brush border membrane that binds the toxin and contains proteins that undergo ...

We have previously shown that liver plasma membrane (Ca2+-Mg2+)-ATPase activity is inhibited by glucagon. To investigate the possible involvement of a GTP-binding (G) protein in this regulation, we have examined the effects of pertussis toxin and cholera toxin on inhibition of (Ca2+-Mg2+)-ATPase by glucagon. Treatment of liver plasma membranes with pertussis toxin did not affect the sensitivity...

Bordetella pertussis, the whooping cough pathogen, secretes several virulence factors among which adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT) is essential for establishment of the disease in the respiratory tract. ACT weakens host defenses by suppressing important bactericidal activities of the phagocytic cells. Up to now, it was believed that cell intoxication by ACT was a consequence of the accumulation of...

BACKGROUND We measured the content and activities of components of the beta-adrenergic receptor-G protein-adenylate cyclase complex and adrenergic neurotransmitter levels in left and right ventricular myocardial preparations derived from 77 end-stage failing human hearts from patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) or ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (ISCDC). METHODS AND RESULTS ...

Ventricular and atrial myocytes cultured from chick embryos 14 days in ovo were used as model systems to study cardiac adenosine receptors. In membranes of ventricular cultures, blocking of the A1-adenosine receptor pathway by the A1-selective antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX) or by pertussis toxin treatment of the myocyte resulted in a significant adenosine agonist-mediated...

GTP evoked both an activatory and an inhibitory response from adipocyte adenylate cyclase. This paper describes the persistence of the bimodal response under a variety of assay conditions. Additionally, manipulations are described which eliminate one or other of these actions. Treatment of adipocyte plasma membranes with cholera toxin A1 peptide and NAD+ abolishes the inhibitory phase of GTP ac...

Hypothyroidism is associated with an enhanced sensitivity of rat fat cells to the inhibitory action of adenosine and adenosine agonists. The sensitivity of the forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP response of rat fat cells to the adenosine agonist N6-phenylisopropyladenosine is amplified 3-fold by hypothyroidism. Forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity is more sensitive to inhibition by this...

The ability of prostaglandin El (PGE1) and cholera toxin to increase cyclic AMP levels is potentiated g-fold when normal rat kidney (NRK) cells are treated with picolinic acid or histidinol, or grown in isoleucine-deficient medium. The response to (-)-isoproterenol is increased a-fold in NRK cells treated with picolinic acid but not in cells subjected to isoleucine deprivation. The increase in ...

The functional integrity of the (3and a-adrenergic stimulatory pathways in a rapid ventricular pacing model of congestive heart failure in dogs was investigated; normal dogs served as controls. Total (-adrenergic receptor density was 35% lower (p<O.O1) in the pacing-overdrive dogs, and the (-adrenergic receptor-mediated stimulation of adenylate cyclase (Vm.) was found to be 68% and 72% lower (p...