BACKGROUND/AIMS A(3) adenosine receptor mediates apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells via diverse signaling pathways. The present study was conducted to assess A(3) adenosine receptor-mediated apoptosis in human bladder cancer cell lines and to understand the underlying mechanism. METHODS Human bladder cancer cell lines such as 253J, 5637, KK-47, TCCSUP, T24, and UMUC-3 cells were cultured....

AzuFluor® 435-DPA-Zn, an azulene fluorophore bearing two zinc( ii )-dipicolylamine receptor motifs, exhibits fluorescence enhancement in the presence of adenosine diphosphate.

Rat polymorphonuclear leucocytes or neonatal-rat heart cells in culture were treated with 2'-deoxycoformycin and 5-iodotubercidin at concentrations that inhibited adenosine deaminase (EC 3.5.4.4) and adenosine kinase (EC 2.7.1.20) inside the intact cells, and the rate of adenosine accumulation was determined. The basal rate of adenosine formation was 2% (polymorphonuclear leucocytes) or 9% (hea...

Adenosine has been proposed as an endogenous homeostatic sleep factor that accumulates during waking and inhibits wake-active neurons to promote sleep. It has been specifically hypothesized that adenosine decreases wakefulness and promotes sleep recovery by directly inhibiting wake-active neurons of the basal forebrain (BF), particularly BF cholinergic neurons. We previously showed that adenosi...

Pulmonary endothelial cell (EC) apoptosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of emphysema. Cigarette smoke (CS) causes lung EC apoptosis and emphysema. In this study, we show that CS exposure increased lung tissue adenosine levels in mice, an effect associated with increased lung EC apoptosis and the development of emphysema. Adenosine has a protective effect against apoptosis via adenosin...

The purine nucleoside adenosine (9-beta-D-ribofuranosyladenine) inhibits a number of lymphocyte functions in vitro, including the ability of activated T lymphocytes and natural killer cells to adhere to and kill tumor targets. Solid tumors, such as adenocarcinomas of the lung and colon, are frequently hypoxic and are, therefore, likely to exhibit increased adenine nucleotide breakdown through t...

To re-examine how the basal extracellular concentration of adenosine is regulated in acutely isolated cerebellar slices we have combined electrophysiological and microelectrode biosensor measurements. In almost all cases, synaptic transmission was tonically inhibited by adenosine acting via A1 receptors. By contrast, in most slices, the biosensors did not measure an adenosine tone but did recor...

Adenosine synthesis was studied during 2-deoxyglucose-induced ATP catabolism in intact rat polymorphonuclear leucocytes. When both adenosine kinase (EC 2.7.1.20) and adenosine deaminase (EC 3.5.4.4) were selectively inhibited, adenosine accumulated. Adenosine formation took place inside the intact cells by a metabolic pathway independent of the ecto-5'-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5). Distinct metabo...

We have previously demonstrated that adenosine plus homocysteine enhanced endothelial basal barrier function and protected against agonist-induced barrier dysfunction in vitro through attenuation of RhoA activation by inhibition of isoprenylcysteine-O-carboxyl methyltransferase. In the current study, we tested the effect of elevated adenosine on pulmonary endothelial barrier function in vitro a...