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The effect of forskolin on parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulated bone resorption, as assessed in vitro by the release of 45Ca from prelabelled neonatal mouse calvarial bones, and cyclic AMP formation in mouse calvarial bones and osteoblast-like cells was investigated. Much higher concentrations (100-300-times) of PTH were required to stimulate cyclic AMP accumulation than to stimulate mineral mobilization in murine calvarial bones. PTH, in the absence of phosphodiesterase inhibitor, stimulated cyclic AMP formation in mouse calvarial bones at and above concentrations of 3-10 nmol/l with EC50 at 10-15 nmol/l. In the presence of forskolin (1 or 10 mumol/l) the minimal concentration required to obtain a cyclic AMP response to PTH was decreased by a factor of 30-100 and the EC50 value was decreased to 1-2 nmol/l. Similar results were seen in osteoblast-enriched cells. In addition, the magnitude of the PTH-induced cyclic AMP response was substantially potentiated by forskolin, both in calvarial bones and in isolated osteoblasts. Forskolin, in the absence of PTH, stimulated cyclic AMP levels in mouse calvaria at and above 1 mumol/l. In the presence of PTH, the response to forskolin was potentiated over the whole dose-response curve with apparent EC50 value at 1-2 mumol/l of forskolin. Forskolin (1 mumol/l) did not affect the magnitude of the 45Ca release response to PTH in 24 or 48 h cultures. In 96 h cultures, forskolin, in an additive manner, potentiated the effect of PTH on calcium mobilization. These results show that forskolin, in mouse calvarial bones and in isolated osteoblasts, in addition to directly stimulating cyclic AMP, can enhance receptor-mediated activation of adenylate cyclase. The finding that forskolin did not synergistically potentiate PTH-induced bone resorption suggests that there is no simple relationship between PTH-induced cyclic AMP formation and stimulation of bone resorption.

The effect of bradykinin on prostaglandin production in mouse calvarial bones and in isolated osteoblasts has been examined. Bradykinin (1 mumol/l) stimulated prostaglandin formation in neonatal mouse calvarial bones incubated for 30 min. In isolated osteoblast-like cells from neonatal mice calvarial bones and in a cloned mouse calvarial osteoblastic cell lineage (MC3T3-E1) bradykinin stimulated the production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (the stable breakdown product of prostacyclin). The stimulation of PGE2 production occurred rapidly (30 s) and reached its maximum after 5-10 min. The stimulatory effect of bradykinin on PGE2 production in isolated osteoblast-like cells and in MC3T3-E1 cells was dose dependent with apparent half maximal stimulation seen at 10 and 3 nmol/l, respectively. Bradykinin-induced prostaglandin production was totally reversible after withdrawal of the agonist. Pretreatment with bradykinin (1 mumol/l) resulted in desensitization to a subsequent challenge with bradykinin (1 mumol/l), while pretreatment with bradykinin had no effect upon arachidonic acid (30 mumol/l) induced prostaglandin formation. Bradykinin-induced production of PGE2 was abolished by several structurally unrelated, competitive and non-competitive inhibitors of arachidonic acid metabolism as well as by corticosteroids. The mouse calvarial osteoblast-like cells also showed a PGE2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha response to thrombin, but not to parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin and 1 alpha(OH)D3. The formation of cyclic AMP in mouse calvarial osteoblasts was enhanced by PTH, bradykinin, thrombin and arachidonic acid but not by calcitonin and 1 alpha(OH)D3. The cyclic AMP response to bradykinin, thrombin and arachidonic acid, but not that to PTH, was abolished by indomethacin. The degree of confluency of the cell cultures greatly influenced the amount of prostaglandins being produced. At higher cell density the amount of prostanoids synthesized per cell was substantially decreased in untreated control cultures as well as in bradykinin- and arachidonic acid-treated cells. These data suggest that osteoblasts are equipped with receptors for bradykinin coupled to prostaglandin production.

The effect on cyclic AMP levels and bone resorption by two methylxanthine cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors, isobutyl-methylxanthine (IBMX) and theophylline, and two non-xanthine PDE inhibitors, Ro 20-1724 and rolipram, was studied in cultured mouse calvarial bones. Cyclic AMP accumulation in calvarial bones increased when Ro 20-1724 (0.1 mmol/l) or rolipram (30 mumol/l) was present in culture medium in 2 h incubations, and when IBMX (0.3 mmol/l) or theophylline (3 mmol/l) was present in 4 h incubations. The cyclic AMP response to PDE-inhibitors could be completely abolished by the cyclooxygenase-inhibitor indomethacin (1 mumol/l). In 120 h cultures, IBMX, theophylline, Ro 20-1724 and rolipram stimulated the release of 45Ca from calvarial bones prelabelled in vivo with 45Ca. This stimulatory effect could not be seen when the endogenous production of prostaglandins was reduced by adding indomethacin (1 mumol/l), hydrocortisone (1 mumol/l) or meclofenamic acid (1 mumol/l) to culture medium. These concentrations of indomethacin, hydrocortisone and meclofenamic acid did not reduce PTH- (10 nmol/l) or choleratoxin-stimulated (0.1 micrograms/ml) 45Ca release from mouse calvarial bones cultured for 120 h. The stimulation of 45Ca release in long-term cultures by the PDE inhibitors could be demonstrated in the presence of indomethacin, provided adenylate cyclase was stimulated by forskolin (1-10 nmol/l). The stimulatory effect of 1 alpha (OH)D3 on 45Ca release could not be potentiated by the PDE-inhibitor rolipram. These results suggest that basal adenylate cyclase activity in cultured murine calvaria is very low and that therefore PDE inhibitors are inactive unless a stimulator of adenylate cyclase is present. The adenylate cyclase stimulator may be an endogenous autacoid such as a prostaglandin.