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Adenosine has potent immunosuppressive activity. Since the source of adenosine and the mechanism of its release in the immune system is largely unknown and may vary according to cell type, we have evaluated the relationship between adenosine metabolism and the enzymatic activities and mRNA levels of adenosine-metabolizing enzymes in myeloid and lymphoid cell lines. Induction of HL-60 cell differentiation along the macrophage lineage by PMA resulted in a reduction in the activities of adenosine deaminase (ADA), adenosine kinase (AK), and inosine monophosphate-specific cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase and an elevation of ecto-5'-nucleotidase (ecto-5'-NT). These changes were accompanied by an elevation of ecto-5'-NT mRNA and a decrease in ADA and AK mRNAs in a time-dependent fashion. Comparison of AK and ADA mRNA levels in several other leukemic cell lines revealed generally similar responses to PMA with much stronger suppression in immature T cells than in B cells. The metabolism of adenosine either through phosphorylation (AK) or deamination (ADA) was reduced in PMA-stimulated cells. Furthermore, the cumulative changes in enzyme expression resulted in a 2.5-fold increase in intracellular adenosine formation in PMA-stimulated cells. The inhibition of AK by 5'-iodotubercidin further increased adenosine formation by 6-fold over that in untreated cells. In accord with the increase in ecto-5'-NT activity, extracellular AMP dephosphorylation increased dramatically, but there was no increase in extracellular ATP degradation. These results indicate that a coordinated shift in adenosine-metabolizing enzyme levels during PMA-induced HL-60 cell differentiation is accompanied by a decrease in adenosine uptake and an increase in adenosine release.

Adenosine and adenosine analogues exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in vitro and in vivo, but their usefulness is limited by profound cardiovascular side effects. Therefore, we synthesized inhibitors of an enzyme involved in adenosine metabolism, adenosine kinase (AK) (EC 2.7.1.20), to enhance endogenous adenosine concentrations at sites of inflammation. GP-1-515 (4-amino-1-(5-amino-5-deoxy-1-beta-D- ribofuranosyl)-3-bromo-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine), a novel AK inhibitor, decreased adhesion of activated human neutrophils to cultured endothelial cell monolayers by increasing local adenosine levels. The mechanism of inhibition in this assay seemed to involve selectin blockade and was independent of the beta 2 integrins. GP-1-515 and 2-chloroadenosine (a nonmetabolizable adenosine analogue) had no effect on the surface expression or shedding of adhesion molecules. An agent that disrupts the cytoskeleton, cytochalasin B, mimicked the effect of adenosine on cell adhesion. Interactions between L-selectin and the neutrophil cytoskeleton might be altered by adenosine and could contribute to adenosine-mediated adhesion inhibition.

We have established long term cell lines from a patient with adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency by stimulation of blood and bone marrow cells with PHA and IL-2 followed by transformation of the activated cells with the human retrovirus HTLV-I. Despite the absence of detectable T cells in the patients blood, cell lines grew that carried the phenotype of mature activated T cells. TJF-2, the line established from blood, was characterized in detail. The concentration of ADA in TJF-2 cells was less than 1% of normal (3.2 U vs 413.0 U). Studies with pharmacologic inhibitors of ADA suggest that the residual adenosine deaminating activity of TJF-2 is from an enzyme distinct from true ADA, a nonspecific aminohydrolyase. Growth of TJF-2 cells was hypersensitive to inhibition by 2'-deoxyadenosine compared to normal T cells (ID50, 55 microM vs greater than 1000 microM). Analysis of 2'-deoxyadenosine-challenged cells showed that TJF-2 cells accumulated significant levels of deoxyadenosine triphosphate, whereas normal T cells did not unless they were also incubated with the ADA inhibitor deoxycoformycin. Southern and Northern blot analysis of these cells revealed a grossly intact ADA gene that produced a normal size ADA mRNA. Yet, despite ADA deficiency, cells of the TJF-2 line were otherwise indistinguishable from HTLV-I-transformed T cells derived from normal donors with respect to dependence on exogenous IL-2 for growth, clonal rearrangement patterns of TCR beta-chain genes, response to PHA, and rapid restoration of cellular volume after hypotonic challenge. The TJF-2 line thus represents a unique HTLV-I-transformed human T cell line exhibiting ADA deficiency and its expected metabolic consequences.