神経系アデニル酸シクラーゼ活性の調節 : GTP-結合蛋白質を中心に

Neuronal adenylate cyclase is responsive to a variety of neurotransmitters which stimulate or inhibit that enzyme. Recent studies concerning the molecular identification of the adenylate cyclase components have elucidated the molecular mechanism linking receptor stimulation to adenylate cyclase activation and inhibition in detail. This article reviews recent advances in the study of the regulation of adenylate cyclase system. Recently several observations have pointed out that the cytoskeletal proteins may participate in the regulation of adenylate cyclase in neuronal systems by reversible association with a GTP-binding protein. Furthermore, in rat brain membranes, the stimulatory and inhibitory GTP-binding proteins are suggested to interact directly with one another, and guanine nucleotide appears to be transferred between these GTP-binding proteins as adenylate cyclase activity changes. It appears that both of these phenomena may occur only in cells of a neural origin. In this review, those unique features that are found in regulating adenylate cyclase from neural systems are also discussed