Hirofumi Tsuga#, Rui-Sheng Wang and Takeshi Honma*
Division of Health Effects Research, National Institute of Industrial
Health, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214 - 8585, Japan
# Domestic research fellowship of Japan Science and Technology
Corporation.
*To whom reprint requests should be addressed.
Abstract: We determined the effects of toluene exposure on activation
or inhibition of adenylyl cyclase by stimulating human β2-adrenergic
receptors (β2-AR) and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR)
m2 subtypes, respectively, expressed in CHO cells. The formation of cAMP
via β2-AR stimulation was slightly but not significantly facilitated
in the presence of 3.7 μM toluene. On the other hand, the inhibition of
adenylyl cyclase by 10 μM of carbamylcholine stimulation of mAChR m2 subtypes
was attenuated in the presence of toluene. These results strongly suggest
that toluene affects activation of Gi rather than Gs.
Keywords: G-protein-coupled receptor, Adenylyl cyclase, Toluene