Cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinase activity in malignant and cyclic AMP-induced "differentiated" neuroblastoma cells in culture.

The activity of adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase was demonstrated in the supernatant (S) fraction (100,000 × g) of mouse and human neuroblastoma (NB) cells. In cAMP-induced “differentiated” mouse NB cells, the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAMP-PK) activity did not significantly change. Cyclic GMP did not stimulate the PK activity in S-fraction. The cAMP-PK or cGMP-PK activity was not detected in the membrane (M) fraction. The present results in combination with previous data support the concept that the major portion of binding proteins is distinct from the regulatory subunits of cAMP-PK. For example, the level of binding proteins markedly increases in S-fraction of “differentiated” NB cell, but cAMP-PK activity does not change. cAMP binding proteins are present in the M-fraction, but cAMP-PK activity is not demonstrable. Cyclic GMP binds with the soluble proteins with about 10-fold less binding affinity than cAMP; however, cGMP does not stimulate PK activity.