Vasopressin-sensitive adenylate cyclase. Reversibility of hormonal activation.

The reversibility of adenylate cyclase activation induced by vasopressin was studied by reducing the concentration of active peptide in contact with kidney medullo-papillary membranes. Reversibility of hormonal activation was only partial. The use of antagonists failed to demonstrate the reversibility of an adenylate cyclase activation induced by high affinity agonists. When antagonist was added after the agonist to membranes, a non-competitive inhibition was apparent. Active peptide was also eliminated from the incubation medium by treatment with agents capable of reducing the disulfide bridge of the hormonal molecule. Direct effects of reducers on adenylate cyclase activity were measured on enzyme activation induced by peptides lacking a disulfide bridge. There was no apparent correlation between the abilities of different reducers to inactivate free peptide in solution and their abilities to promote the reversibility of hormone-induced enzyme activation. Upon the addition of dithiothreitol, enzyme activity could be lowered to basal value and adenylate cyclase was again fully stimulatable. However, when dithiothreitol addition to stiumlated enzyme was combined with a 60-fold dilution of the incubation medium, no reversibility of hormonal activation occurred. These results illustrate that the processes involved in adenylate cyclase activation are only partially reversible.