Transendothelial transport and metabolism of adenosine and inosine in the intact rat aorta

This study was aimed at defining the role of vascular endothelium in the transport and metabolism of adenosine. For this purpose, endothelium-intact and endothelium-denuded isolated rat aortas, perfused at constant flow (2 ml/min), were prelabeled with 3H-adenosine or 3H-inosine for 10 minutes at concentrations of 0.012-100 microM. Sequestration of adenosine by endothelium was determined from radioactivity recovered during selective endothelial cell removal with deoxycholic acid (0.75% for 15 seconds). In the physiological concentration range of adenosine (0.012-1 microM), fractional sequestration by endothelium was 90-92% of the total adenosine incorporation by the aorta. Endothelial sequestration of inosine at 0.1 microM was 85%. At 100 microM adenosine or inosine, fractional sequestration by aortic endothelium was 33% and 39%, respectively. Analysis of the specific radioactivity of adenine nucleotides extracted from prelabeled aortas indicated that most of the adenosine was incorporated into endothelial adenine nucleotides. Incorporation of inosine into endothelial ATP was approximately 15% that of adenosine. Inhibition of aortic adenosine deaminase with erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine (EHNA) did not influence sequestration of 0.1 microM adenosine, but resulted in a 49% reduction of total endothelial incorporation at 100 microM adenosine. Transfer of radioactive purines from the endothelium to underlying smooth muscle after prelabeling was equivalent to only 1%/hr of total endothelial radioactivity. Our findings suggested that 1) macrovascular endothelium of the aorta constitutes a highly effective metabolic barrier for circulating adenosine and inosine; 2) transfer of labeled adenine nucleotides from endothelium to underlying smooth muscle is rather small and most likely proceeds via dephosphorylated purine compounds; and 3) measurement of adenosine trapping in endothelial and smooth muscle compartments overestimates the transendothelial adenosine concentration gradient.