Abstract-Nitric oxide (NO) donors were recently shown to produce biphasic contractile effects in cardiac tissue, with augmentation at low NO levels and depression at high NO levels. We examined the subcellular mechanisms involved in the opposing effects of NO on cardiac contraction and investigated whether NO modulates contraction exclusively via guanylyl cyclase (GC) activation or whether some contribution occurs via cGMP/PKG-independent mechanisms, in indo 1-loaded adult cardiac myocytes. Whereas a high concentration of the NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP, 100 mol/L) significantly attenuated contraction amplitude by 24.4Ϯ4.5% (without changing the Ca 2ϩ transient or total cAMP), a low concentration of SNAP (1 mol/L) significantly increased contraction amplitude (38Ϯ10%), Ca 2ϩ transient (26Ϯ10%), and cAMP levels (from 6.2 to 8.5 pmol/mg of protein). The negative contractile response of 100 mol/L SNAP was completely abolished in the presence of the specific blocker of PKG KT 5823 (1 mol/L); the positive contractile response of 1 mol/L SNAP persisted, despite the presence of the selective inhibitor of GC 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ, 10 mol/L) alone, but was completely abolished in the presence of ODQ plus the specific inhibitory cAMP analog Rp-8-CPT-cAMPS (100 mol/L), as well as by the NO scavenger oxyhemoglobin. Parallel experiments in cell suspensions showed significant increases in adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity at low concentrations (0.1 to 1 mol/L) of SNAP (AC, 18% to 20% above basal activity). We conclude that NO can regulate both AC and GC in cardiac myocytes. High levels of NO induce large increases in cGMP and a negative inotropic effect mediated by a PKG-dependent reduction in myofilament responsiveness to Ca 2ϩ . Low levels of NO increase cAMP, at least in part, by a novel cGMP-independent activation of AC and induce a positive contractile response. (Circ Res. 1999;84:1020-1031.) Key Words: nitric oxide signaling Ⅲ cGMP Ⅲ cAMP Ⅲ contractility Ⅲ cardiac myocyte N itric oxide (NO) has been implicated as a mediator of many cellular processes, including endotheliumdependent relaxation of blood vessels, chemical communication between peripheral nerves and smooth muscle, inhibition of platelet aggregation, immune responses, and neurotransmission. 1 These effects of NO have been ascribed to the activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase (GC), leading to the production of cGMP and activation of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). 1,2 Furthermore, NO and NO donors have been shown to elicit a wide range of effects on myocardial contractility, 3-9 but the specific nature of the subcellular mechanisms underlying the diverse effects in heart is largely unknown.Although the coronary endothelium is responsible for the bulk of the endogenous, physiological production of NO in the heart, 10,11 NO can also be produced within the cardiac myocytes themselves (ie, autocrine production) by the constitutive NO synthase NOS-3. 12,13 Dynamic regulation of NO production in the heart apparently ...