Calmodulin sensitive phosphodiesterase of porcine cerebral cortex: kinetic behavior, calmodulin activation, and stability.

The calmodulin sensitive phosphodiesterase of porcine cerebral cortex was characterized in terms of kinetic behavior, calmodulin activation, and stability. This enzyme displayed non-Michaelis-Menten kinetics in the presence or absence of calmodulin. The apparent affinity for cyclic GMP was higher than that for cyclic AMP but at saturating levels of substrate, this enzyme catalyzed the hydrolysis of cyclic AMP at a greater rate than it did cyclic GMP. The affinity of this enzyme for calmodulin was about 20-fold lower than usually reported. The apparent loss of phosphodiesterase activity after storage was found to be due to a strong association with container surfaces and could be prevented or reversed by the presence of 0.1% Triton X-100.