Cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate increases beta-adrenergic receptor concentration in cultured human fetal lung explants and type II cells.

cAMP regulates the maturation of many biochemical processes that occur during normal lung development, including the changing levels of surfactant proteins and phospholipids. We examined the effect of cAMP on the beta-adrenergic receptor concentration in the developing human lung. Isobutylmethylxanthine, a cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor, increased both the tissue cAMP content and beta-adrenergic receptor concentration in treated explants above those in untreated explants. 8-Bromo-cAMP treatment also elevated the beta-adrenergic receptor concentration of lung explants compared to that in untreated controls. These data indicate the ability of elevated cAMP to increase the beta-adrenergic receptor concentration. Both lung cAMP and beta-adrenergic receptor concentrations increase spontaneously in culture. To test for a possible causal relationship, we cultured explants with protein kinase inhibitors. We found that H-8, a preferential inhibitor of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase [protein kinase-A (PKA)], but not H-7, which inhibits PKA and protein kinase-C with similar potency, blocked the spontaneous rise in beta-adrenergic receptor concentration in human fetal lung explants, indicating that PKA activity is required for this rise in beta-adrenergic receptor concentration. Type II cells isolated from cultured lung treated with H-8 had fewer beta-adrenergic receptors than cells isolated from untreated explants. These studies show that cAMP increases the beta-adrenergic receptor concentration in human fetal lung and specifically in type II cells through a PKA-dependent mechanism, consistent with a role for cAMP in beta-adrenergic receptor regulation during normal lung development.