We have examined
adenylate cyclase (AC) in the M2R
melanoma cell line, a novel clone of transplantable
B16 melanoma cells. It has been found that activity of this
enzyme is highly responsive to
beta-melanotropin (
beta-MSH) and other
hormones possessing melanotropic activity (e.g.,
alpha-melanotropin (
alpha-MSH) and
adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH1-24)).
beta-MSH stimulation of
adenylate cyclase, both in the intact cell and in a plasma membrane-enriched fraction derived thereof, was shown to be saturable and dose-dependent. In addition,
prostaglandin E1 (
PGE1) was found to be a potent stimulator of AC activity in these cells.
Hormone stimulation of
enzyme activity in the intact cell was strongly potentiated by
forskolin which not only enhanced maximal AC activity 3-fold, but lowered by 40-fold the concentration of
beta-MSH required for half-maximal stimulation. Using biologically active [125I]iodo-
beta-MSH prepared in our laboratory we have examined the specificity of
beta-MSH binding to its receptor in both intact M2R cells and plasma membranes derived thereof. Among a series of
hormones tested only
alpha-MSH and ACTH1-24 competed with [125I]iodo-
beta-MSH for binding to the
melanotropin receptor in accordance with the results obtained with AC. In contrast to the strong effect on cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation in M2R cells
forskolin has no effect on [125I]iodo-
beta-MSH binding. It appears that the kinetic properties of
beta-MSH binding and
beta-MSH stimulation of
adenylate cyclase activity are essentially identical, the half-maximal effects of which are demonstrated at approximately 20 nM
beta-MSH.