Correlation between intracellular cAMP levels and phospholipids of Microsporum gypseum.

Atropine, a modulator of cAMP has been used to examine the relationship between phospholipids and intracellular levels of cAMP in Microsporum gypseum. A decreased phospholipid content was observed in atropine grown cells as a result of reduced levels of intracellular cAMP. This decline was caused by the inhibitory effect of atropine on adenylate cyclase. Lowered phospholipid content was supported by decreased [14C]acetate incorporation as well as reduced activities of key enzymes of phospholipid biosynthesis. In vitro supplementation of atropine in control cells also caused inhibition in lipid synthesis indicating similar effects of atropine and its metabolites. These results in conjunction with our previous report, in which enhanced levels of cAMP resulted in increased phospholipid synthesis, suggest a direct correlation between phospholipid biosynthesis and intracellular levels of cAMP in M. gypseum.