Formycin 5'-triphosphate (FoTP), a fluorescent analog of ATP, is shown to be a substrate for the membrane-bound adenylate cyclase activity [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1] from rat osteosarcoma cells. The formation of the adenylate cyclase reaction product, 3',5'-cyclic formycin monophosphate (cFoMP), was followed by the conventional radioimmunoassay (RIA) procedure used to detect cAMP and by an assay procedure in which the reaction product was separated from the substrate by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the reaction product was detected by fluorometry. Because the HPLC--fluorometric procedure can determine the amount of cFoMP present in the reaction mixture within 6 min, the enzymatic conversion of FoTP to cFoMP can be followed directly during the course of a typical 15-min incubation. The amount of cFoMP detected by this procedure was found to be within 2% of the values obtained by the RIA. The rate of product formation with FoTP was similar to that observed with ATP and the activity of the enzyme was enhanced about 5-fold with guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate when either ATP or FoTP was used as the substrate. Kinetic studies revealed values for the Vmax of 120 pmol/min per mg of protein and apparent Km values of 220 microM with both substrates. In addition to suggesting that the recognition of the substrate by the adenylate cyclase may not require a specific chemical structure of the 5-membered ring of the base or a unique configuration about either the glycosyl or the C(5')-C(4') bond, the results of this study are consistent with the idea that the cytotoxicity observed with the adenosine analog formycin may be the result of its metabolism to cFoMP. Furthermore, these studies indicate that the fluorescent analog FoTP can be used, in combination with HPLC, to provide an alternative, nonradioactive direct method for the assay of adenylate cyclase catalytic activity.