Pertussis toxin facilitates secretagogue-induced catecholamine release from cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells.

Pretreatment of cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells with pertussis toxin facilitated nicotine-induced catecholamine release. This facilitation was correlated with the ability of the toxin to catalyze the ADP-ribosylation of an approximately 40-kDa membrane protein. The actions of the toxin were reversed by isonicotinamide, an inhibitor of ADP-ribosylation. Catecholamine release due to high K+ and muscarine was also enhanced by pertussis toxin. In all cases, 45Ca2+ uptake was unaltered in cells treated with the toxin. These results suggest that ADP-ribosylation of a 40-kDa membrane protein facilitates catecholamine release from bovine chromaffin cells without affecting 45Ca2+ uptake.