Neurodegenerative diseases are frequently associated with the loss of synapses and neurons. Senegenin, extracted from the Chinese herb Polygala tenuifolia Willd, was previously found to promote neurite outgrowth and neuronal survival in primary cultured rat cortical neurons. The aim of the present study was to investigate the underlying mechanisms of senegenin-induced neurotrophic effects on ra...

Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1) disease is a rare neurovisceral disorder characterized by intracellular accumulation of unesterified cholesterol, sphingolipids, and other lipids in the lysosomal compartment. A deregulation of lysosomal calcium has been identified as one of the earliest steps of the degenerative process. Since adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) control lysosome trafficking and pH, whic...

We investigated whether adenosine, a potent contributor to the regulation of pulmonary function, can modulate human lung mast cell (HLMC) fibrinolytic activity. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) activity and tPA transcript expression levels from a human mast cell line (HMC-1) and HLMC were monitored following adenosine application. Adenosine potentiated mast cell tPA activity and tPA gene expr...

The bone marrow-derived cell (BMDC)-associated inflammatory response plays a key role in the development of acute lung injury (ALI). Activation of adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) is generally considered to be antiinflammatory, inhibiting BMDC activities to protect against ALI. However, in the present study, we found that in a mouse model of neurogenic ALI induced by severe traumatic brain injury ...

Abstract BACKGROUND Intestinal fibrosis is a debilitating complication of Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. Surgical resection used to treat intestinal strictures, but this approach may adversely affect the patients' quality life. Based on findings our groups and others, we hypothesize that metabolites are associated with fibrosis. We aimed discover novel anti-fibrogenic metabolites. METHODS compa...

25 The role of adenosine and contraction for secretion of VEGF in skeletal muscle was 26 investigated in human subjects and rat primary skeletal muscle cells. Microdialysis probes 27 were inserted into the thigh muscle of seven male subjects and dialysate was collected at 28 rest, during infusion of adenosine and during knee extensor exercise. The dialysate was 29 analyzed for content of VEGF p...

Inosine, an endogenous purine, is the first metabolite of adenosine in a reaction catalyzed by adenosine deaminase. This study aimed to investigate the antinociceptive effects of inosine against several models of pain in mice and rats. In mice, inosine given by systemic or central routes inhibited acetic acid-induced nociception. Furthermore, inosine also decreased the late phase of formalin-in...

Recombinant human A(2B) adenosine receptors (A(2B)ARs) and receptors extended on the amino terminus with hexahistidine and the FLAG epitope, DYKDDDDK (H/F-A(2B)) were stably overexpressed (to >20,000 fmol/mg protein) in human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK-A(2B)). By Western blotting, the H/F-A(2B) receptor runs as a 34.8-kDa glycoprotein. Pharmacological properties of A(2B)ARs were characteri...

BACKGROUND Long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) is associated with peritoneal fibrosis and loss of function. It has been shown that activation of the adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)R) promotes tissue repair, wound healing and extracellular matrix (ECM) production. We have previously shown that adenosine is a potent regulator of inflammation in the peritoneum. In the current study, we explored the...

Adenosine clearly regulates coronary blood flow (CBF); however, contributions of specific adenosine receptor (AR) subtypes (A(1), A(2A), A(2B), A(3)) to CBF in swine have not been determined. ARs generally decrease (A(1), A(3)) or increase (A(2A), A(2B)) cyclic adenosine monophosphate, a major mediator of vasodilation. We hypothesized that A(1) antagonism potentiates coronary vasodilation and c...