Adenosine Receptors and the Nucleoside Transporter in Human Brain Vasculature

Evidence suggests that adenosine modulates neuronal and cerebral vascular functions by interacting with specific receptors on brain cells and blood vessels. Adenosine and other nucleosides are also transported across the blood-brain barrier via a saturable, carrier-mediated mechanism. Using direct ligand binding methods, we studied the two adenosine receptor subtypes, A 1 and A 2 , and the nucleoside transporter moiety in human brain microvessels, pial vessels, choroid plexus, and cerebral cortex membranes. The following specific tritiated ligands were used: cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) for A 1 receptors; 5'- N-ethylcarboxamide adenosine (NECA) for A 2 receptors; nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBMPR) and dipyridamole (DPY) for nucleoside transporters. We find that cerebral microvessels, pial vessels, and choroid plexus have few, if any, A 1 receptors, in contradistinction to cerebral membranes, which have a 10–20-fold higher density of A 1 receptor sites. Specific high-affinity NECA binding to A 2 receptors in cerebral microvessels, pial vessels, and choroid plexus was saturable and was equivalent to that of cerebral cortical membranes. The B max and K d of the high-affinity NECA binding to vessel preparations were ∼1.3 pmol/mg protein and ∼250 n M, respectively, which is similar to our previous findings in the rat and pig. NBMPR and binding were also saturable and were consistent with a single class of high-affinity binding sites. The density of nucleoside transporters was ∼four-fold higher in cerebral microvessels than in cerebral cortex, pial vessels, and choroid plexus. These results suggest that human cerebral microvessels have A 2 , but not A 1 , receptors and are particularly enriched with the adenosine transporter moiety.