Because some responses to forskolin are adenosine 3',5'-cyclic phosphate (cyclic AMP) independent, we investigated the involvement of adenylate cyclase in the stimulatory effect of forskolin on synaptosomal tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity of rat striatum. The forskolin analogue, 1,9-dideoxyforskolin, which mimics the cyclic AMP-independent effects of forskolin, was a very weak activator of both striatal adenylate cyclase and tyrosine hydroxylase activities, whereas forskolin stimulated the two enzymes effectively and with similar potencies. Moreover, exposure of synaptosomes to the specific cyclic AMP antagonist Rp-adenosine 3',5'-cyclic phosphorothioate reduced basal TH activity and counteracted the stimulatory effect on the enzyme activity by submaximal concentrations of forskolin. These results provide circumstantial evidence that in striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals a presynaptic adenylate cyclase mediates the stimulation of TH activity by forskolin.