Inhibition of renal membrane adenylate cyclase by extract of pancreatic cancer associated with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy.

The parathyroid hormone (PTH)-like activity, defined by the stimulation of cAMP production in MC3T3E1 cells, in the extract of a pancreatic cancer associated with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM) was eluted in two peaks (I and II) by reverse phase HPLC. Both peaks dose-dependently inhibited the binding of human (h) PTH(1-34) to canine renal membrane in an essentially similar fashion to hPTH(1-34) or PTH-related protein (rP). In the renal membrane, neither of these peaks stimulated adenylate cyclase (AC) but rather dose-dependently inhibited AC activity stimulated by hPTH(1-34), PTH-rP(1-34) or forskolin. In rat renal cortical slices, however, both peaks could exhibit their own stimulatory effect and did not inhibit PTH or forskolin-stimulated cAMP production. It has been concluded that a factor which inhibits AC activity, probably reflecting the direct action at catalytic site, can occasionally be produced with PTH-like factor. Although PTH-like and AC-inhibiting activities were very close on reverse phase HPLC, currently the interrelation between these two activities is not clear. It may be important to be aware of the presence of such a factor in the evaluation of the bioassay data employing a broken cell preparation, which is often used to assess the PTH-like activity of tumor products.