The A2b adenosine receptor mediates cAMP responses to adenosine receptor agonists in human intestinal epithelia.

Adenosine is thought to be a major effector in immunological stimulation of Cl- secretion in intestinal epithelia. Previous studies indicate that both apical and basolateral domains of intestinal epithelial cells possess functionally defined adenosine receptors. However, it is unclear whether the same receptor subclass is expressed, what the receptor subclass(es) is, or how the receptors signal the Cl- secretory response. We now characterize the intestinal epithelial adenosine receptor subtype using the model epithelium, T84. Both apical and basolateral adenosine receptor agonist response profiles revealed a hierarchy (ED50) of 5'-(N-ethylcarboxamido)adenosine > adenosine > CGS-21680. Similarly inhibition studies revealed identical ID50 hierarchies for apical and basolateral antagonism by xanthine amine congener > 1,3-diethyl-8-phenylxanthine > aminophylline. Analyses of both agonist and antagonist pharmacological hierarchies in Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing the A2b receptor revealed these same hierarchies. Northern blots performed on RNA extracted from polarized T84 monolayers demonstrated no detectable message for A1 or A2a adenosine receptor, but strong hybridization was detected for the A2b adenosine receptor. Subsequent Northern blots of RNA prepared from human alimentary tract revealed that A2b adenosine receptor message was heavily expressed throughout the colon, in the appendix, and more modestly expressed in the small intestine (ileum). Analyses of cAMP generation in T84 cells in response to adenosine indicated that the basolateral A2b receptor elicits Cl- secretion through this signaling pathway. Stimulation of Cl- secretion through the apical A2b receptor exhibited relatively small but significant increases in cAMP compared with basolateral stimulation. The protein kinase A inhibitor H-89, used at concentrations that did not affect short circuit current responses to the Ca(2+)-mediated agonist carbachol, effectively inhibited short circuit current elicited by either apical or basolateral adenosine. These data suggest that the major intestinal epithelial adenosine receptor is the A2b subclass, which is positively coupled to adenylate cyclase. Such observations have potentially important implications for the treatment of diarrheal diseases.