Activation of Adenosine A3 Receptor Alleviates TNF-α-Induced Inflammation through Inhibition of the NF-κB Signaling Pathway in Human Colonic Epithelial Cells

To investigate the expression of adenosine A3 receptor (A3AR) in human colonic epithelial cells and the effects of A3AR activation on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α-) induced inflammation in order to determine its mechanism of action in human colonic epithelial cells, human colonic epithelial cells (HT-29 cells) were treated with different concentrations of 2-Cl-IB-MECA prior to TNF-α stimulation, followed by analysis of NF-κB signaling pathway activation and downstream IL-8 and IL-1β production. A3AR mRNA and protein were expressed in HT-29 cells and not altered by changes in TNF-α or 2-Cl-IB-MECA. Pretreatment with 2-Cl-IB-MECA prior to stimulation with TNF-α attenuated NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation as p65 protein decreased in the nucleus of cells and increased in the cytoplasm, inhibited the degradation of IκB-α, and reduced phosphorylated-IκB-α level significantly, compared to TNF-α-only-treated groups. Furthermore, 2-Cl-IB-MECA significantly decreased TNF-α-stimulated IL-8 and IL-1β mRNA expression and secretion, compared to the TNF-α-only treated group. These results confirm that A3AR is expressed in human colonic epithelial cells and demonstrate that its activation has an anti-inflammatory effect, through the inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway, which leads to inhibition of downstream IL-8 and IL-1β expression. Therefore, A3AR activation may be a potential treatment for gut inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease.