Effect of higher aortic pressure on ribosome formation and cAMP content in rat heart.

Elevation of aortic perfusion pressure from 60 to 120 mmHg in beating and arrested rat hearts raised cAMP content and increased rates of ribosome formation but had no effect on total protein synthesis during 1 h of perfusion. The activity of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase increased as perfusion pressure was elevated in arrested hearts. A regulatory link between increased cAMP content and accelerated ribosome formation was hypothesized to exist. When hearts were arrested with tetrodotoxin and exposed to 0.2 mM methacholine, a muscarinic-cholinergic agonist that blocked pressure-induced increases in cAMP content, elevation of aortic pressure to 120 mmHg failed to increase the rate of ribosome formation. When aortic pressure was maintained at 60 mmHg, exposure of beating hearts to glucagon increased cAMP content and mimicked the effect of elevated aortic pressure to accelerate rates of ribosome formation. These studies support the hypothesis that increased aortic pressure preferentially accelerates rates of ribosome formation by a cAMP-dependent mechanism.