Glucose-stimulated cAMP increase may be mediated by intracellular acidification in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

It has been reported that addition of glucose to cells of Saccharomycescerevisiae grown on a sugar-free medium causes a peak of intracellular cAMP levels. Also, it has been proposed that this effect might be mediated by plasma membrane depolarization. However, here, we observed a hyperpolarizing effect of glucose in S. cerevisiae and, in addition, no change in cAMP levels when depolarization was induced by valinomycin in the presence of K⁺. In contrast, treatments that induced a rapid intracellular acidification such as addition of the protonophore carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone at pH 5.5 but not at pH 8.0, extracellular pH shift from 8.5 to 3.5, and glucose itself, also increased the cyclic nucleotide. Thus, our data strongly support the hypothesis that intracellular acidification mediates the effect of glucose on cAMP levels.