New fluorescent analogs of cAMP and cGMP available as substrates for cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase.

The synthesis of fluorescent derivatives of cAMP and cGMP, by reaction with isatoic anhydride in aqueous solution at mild pH and temperature, yielding 2'-O-anthraniloyl derivatives of cyclic nucleotides, is here described. 2'-O-(N-Methylanthraniloyl) derivatives were also synthesized by reaction with N-methylisatoic anhydride. Upon excitation at 330-350 nm, these derivatives exhibited maximum fluorescence emission at 430-445 nm in aqueous solution with quantum yields of 0.11-0.26. Their fluorescence was sensitive to the polarity of solvent; in N,N-dimethylformamide quantum yields of 0.8-0.95. The major differences between the two fluorophores were the longer wavelength of the emission maximum of the N-methylanthraniloyl group and its greater quantum yield. The derivatives were substrates for beef heart cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase, 15-24% as effective as the natural substrate cAMP. When combined with thin layer chromatography techniques, two apparent Km values (3-4 microM and 36-76 microM) for the cAMP derivatives and one value (10-18 microM) for the cGMP derivatives were obtained. The results indicate that these 2'-hydroxyl-modified cAMP and cGMP can be useful fluorescent substrate analogs for cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase.