Consequences of hormone-induced desensitization of adenylate cyclase in intact cells.

A hypothesis on the role of the hormone-induced desensitization of adenylate cyclase is proposed. It is suggested that the desensitization process could provide the cell with a highly efficient cyclic AMP system for transmitting hormone stimulus without requiring a large energy consumption. Theoretical considerations show that in fact the desensitization phenomenon allows the cyclic AMP system to present a good compromise between the efficiency and economy requirements of the cells.