Effects of forskolin on bone. Stimulation of cyclic AMP accumulation and calcium efflux from chick embryo tibiae in organ culture.

Forskolin (FSK), an activator of adenylate cyclase in many tissues, was investigated to determine its potential for studying cyclic AMP-mediated, physiological events in bone. Tibiae from 14-day chick embryos were cultured in modified Eagle's medium for up to 8 hr, and the cyclic AMP and Ca2+ efflux responses to parathyroid hormone (PTH) and FSK were observed. FSK caused a concentration-related increase in tissue cyclic AMP, with 10(-6) M FSK producing a cyclic AMP response of similar magnitude to that elicited by 10(-6) M PTH (1-34). However, while 10(-6) M PTH was the maximally-activating PTH concentration, a further elevation was produced by 10(-5) M FSK. Chick embryo tibiae cultured for 8 hr in the presence of PTH exhibited a concentration-related stimulation of Ca2+ efflux up to 10(-6) M PTH. When this physiological effect was examined in bones cultured in the presence of FSK, a biphasic response to increasing FSK concentrations was found; Ca2+ efflux was stimulated by 10(-6) M and 3 X 10(-6) M FSK, but not by 10(-7) M or 10(-5) M FSK. In summary, concentrations of FSK, which produced tissue cyclic AMP accumulation similar to that produced by physiologically effective PTH concentrations, also resulted in net Ca2+ efflux from bone. These results indicate that FSK may be a useful agent for studying the role of cyclic AMP in the response of bone to hormones.