Potentiation of guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate accumulation in C-6 glial tumor cells.

C-6 glial tumor cells treated with norepinephrine and sodium azide accumulated cyclic GMP to concentrations approximately 10-fold greater than the sum of the separate responses. Isoproterenol, but not phenylephrine, was an effective substitute for norepinephrine, and the response was blocked by propranolol and sotalol. Nitroprusside, but neither cyanide nor isobutyl-methylxanthine, replaced azide. The potentiation was not affected by removal of CA2+ OR Na+ from the extracellular medium and was not blocked by cocaine. The potentiative accumulation of cyclic GMP in C-6 cells differs from the recently described stimulation by catecholamines of soluble guanylate cyclase of renal cortex. The potentiative phenomenon is compared with the few known instances in which cyclic AMP augments cyclic GMP formation and may be associated with synergistic modifications of cellular functions.