Abstract-Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases regulate cAMP-mediated signaling by controlling intracellular cAMP content.The cAMP-hydrolyzing activity of several families of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases found in human heart is regulated by cGMP. In the case of PDE2, this regulation primarily involves the allosteric stimulation of cAMP hydrolysis by cGMP. For PDE3, cGMP acts as a competitive inhibitor of cAMP hydrolysis. Several cGMP-mediated responses in cardiac cells, including a potentiation of Ca 2ϩ currents and a diminution of the responsiveness to -adrenergic receptor agonists, have been shown to result from the effects of cGMP on cAMP hydrolysis. These effects appear to be dependent on the specific spatial distribution of the cGMP-generating and cAMP-hydrolyzing proteins, as well as on the intracellular concentrations of the two cyclic nucleotides. Gaining a more precise understanding of how these cross-talk mechanisms are individually regulated and coordinated is an important direction for future research. (Circ Res. 2007;100:1569-1578.) Key Words: phosphodiesterases Ⅲ signaling cross-talk Ⅲ cAMP Ⅲ cGMP Ⅲ compartmentalization T he second messengers cAMP and cGMP are important regulators of cardiac function. cAMP, which is generated by adenylyl cyclases (AC) on G protein-coupled receptor stimulation by catecholamines, regulates the strength and frequency of cardiac contraction and relaxation. The main downstream effector of cAMP is protein kinase A (PKA), 1 though cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels and the exchange factor for Rap, Epac, 2 are also cAMP targets. cGMP, which is generated by guanylyl cyclases (GC) in response to nitric oxide (NO) and natriuretic peptides, modulates inotropy and metabolic responses 3 via the activation of its downstream effectors, protein kinase G (PKG) and cyclic nucleotide-gated channels. These two signaling pathways often exert opposing influences on cardiac function, 3 in part as a consequence of the opposing effects of PKA-and PKG-mediated phosphorylation on target proteins.A separate level of cross-talk between the cAMP and cGMP signaling pathways involves the activity of the cyclic nucleotide-degrading enzymes, phosphodiesterases (PDEs). In the heart, cGMP acts as a regulator of the activity of cAMPhydrolyzing PDEs, such that the intracellular concentration of cGMP can influence the intracellular concentration of cAMP.Original received November 11, 2006; revision received March 20, 2007; accepted March 27, 2007. From the Dulbecco Telethon Institute at the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (M.Z.), Padova, Italy; and the Cardiology Section, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System (M.A.M.), and Departments of Internal Medicine (Cardiology) and Pharmacology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah.Correspondence The modulatory effects of cGMP on cAMP-hydrolyzing PDEs occur at nanomolar to micromolar concentrations of cGMP. This concentration range is comparable to that at which cGMP activates canonical targets such as PKG (K ...