The role of cAMP in the induction of ornithine decarboxylase by nerve and epidermal growth factors.

Nerve growth factor (NGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), and cholera toxin all increase the specific activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in the PC12 nerve-like cell line. A phosphodiesterase inhibitor augments the effect of NGF on the induction of ODC in these cells, while it is only additive with the EGF response. These data suggest that cAMP has an intermediary role in the induction of ODC by NGF and that cAMP is not involved in the EGF response.