Actions of pertussis toxin on the inhibitory effects of dopamine and somatostatin on prolactin and growth hormone release from ovine anterior pituitary cells.

Forskolin and the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate stimulate prolactin and GH release from ovine anterior pituitary cells cultured in vitro. Dopamine and somatostatin inhibit release of prolactin and GH respectively, after stimulation by these agents, but without effects on intracellular cyclic AMP concentrations. In each case the inhibitory effects were reversed by pretreatment of cells with pertussis toxin, in a dose-related fashion (1-100 ng/ml), again without affecting cyclic AMP levels. The results suggest that the inhibitory effects of dopamine and somatostatin in this system are mediated by one or more pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins, and that these act by a mechanism which does not involve inhibition of adenylate cyclase.