Receptor-associated changes of the catecholamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase in glioma cells doubly transformed with Moloney sarcoma virus.

A doubly transformed rat glioma cell line, designated C6V-1, was obtained from rat glioma C6 cells by infection with a rat-adapted variant of Moloney sarcoma virus (MSV-M-os). The C6V-1 cells show karyotypic changes in chromosome number (43) and structure, while C6 cells possess a normal male karyotype. C6V-1 and C6 cells were employed for characterization of a receptor-adenylate cyclase system of the surface membrane. C6V-1 cells showed lower adenylate cyclase activity than that of C6 cells, though the apparent Km for ATP in both types of cells was the same. The maximal stimulation of adenylate cyclase by isoproterenol was significantly reduced, and Kact for isoproterenol was approximately 18-fold lower in C6V-1 cells. When the concentration of beta-adrenergic receptors was measured by various concentrations of [3H] dihydroalprenolol (DHA), the maximal binding sites of C6 and C6V-1 cells were 760 and 230 fmol/mg protein, respectively, without any changes in the association constant for DHA. The concentration of isoproterenol required for 50% displacement of the [3H] DHA binding (Kd) was the same (around 1.5 X 10(-6)M) in both cells, measured in the presence of GTP. Thus the 19-fold drop in the Kd/Kact ratio in C6V-1 cells suggests an incomplete coupling of beta-receptors to adenylate cyclase. Cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity and cAMP content in C6V-1 were lower than in C6 cells. Mitochondrial monoamine oxidase and cytosomal enolase activities, however, were somewhat higher in C6V-1 cells. The results indicate that a set of changes in the receptors and in the cyclic AMP system of C6V-1 is one of the specific alterations by transformation, even though those may not be the cause of cell transformation.