Adenylate cyclase and guanylate cyclase of normal and denervated skeletal muscle.

Cyclic nucleotides mediate the intracellular effects of various extracellular influences. To explore the possibility that nerve-muscle influences are mediated by cyclic nucleotides, we studied the effect of denervation on the cyclase enzymes of rabbit gastrocnemius using the contralateral, unoperated limb as the control. Adenylate cyclase activity decreased dramatically after denervation, while guanylate cyclase activity increased several times in all tissue fractions studied. Neither enzyme demonstrated cholinergic responsiveness. The dramatic changes in cyclase activities following denervation could result from a role of these enzymes in the mediation of nerve-muscle influences.