Changes in the Amount and Properties of Adenyl Cyclase in Brown Adipose Tissue during Acclimation of Rats to Cold

Abstract

Adenyl cyclase of interscapular brown adipose tissue of rats undergoing acclimation to cold was measured in order to find out whether the amount of the nor adrenaline-stimulated enzyme might be increased in cold-acclimated rats, in which a characteristic large increase in the overall calorigenic response to noradrenaline (nonshivering thermogenesis) is induced by the prolonged exposure to cold (4–8 weeks). It was found that the growth of the brown adipose tissue in the acclimating rats is accompanied by an increase in the total amount of noradrenaline-stimulated adenyl cyclase activity. Since this increase does not keep pace with the growth of the tissue a reduction in specific activity of the noradrenaline-stimulated adenyl cyclase was observed. Thus no evidence was obtained for an increased concentration of noradrenaline-responsive structures in the cell membrane of the brown adipose tissue of cold-acclimated rats.In contrast, fluoride-stimulated adenyl cyclase activity increased almost twofold after only 2 days of exposure to cold and before the growth of the tissue had started. Thereafter the activity of this enzyme increased in parallel to the growth of the tissue. The extra activity that developed during the first 2 days persisted throughout the period of acclimation to cold (8 weeks); it disappeared within 1 day when the cold-acclimated rats were returned to room temperature.These changes in adenyl cyclase activity are more rapid than any hitherto reported. They presumably reflected a change in the properties of the cell membrane in response to an environmental stress. It is not known whether the increase in measurable fluoride-stimulated adenyl cyclase activity reflects an increase in the synthesis of a specific protein or an unmasking of the activity of an enzyme already present.No change in the specific activity of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase was observed; during acclimation to cold the total amount of this enzyme increased in parallel with the growth of the tissue.