Adenosinergic System in the Mesenteric Vessels

Abstract

Adenine-based purines, such as adenosine, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), are ubiquitous signalling molecules that mediate diverse biological actions and physiological processes. Adenosine is an important signalling molecule in the brain, lungs, kidneys, heart, blood vessels and immune systems (Lu et al., 2004), that exerts a potent action on many physiological processes including vasodilation, hormone and neurotransmitter release, platelet aggregation, and lipolysis (Baldwin et al., 2004; Podgorska et al., 2005). Reports of adenosine and adenosine monophosphate (AMP), effects on the heart and blood vessels (Drury & Szent-Gyorgyi, 1929), were the first in a major line of research concerning the physiological actions of purines. Since then, the list of biological processes in which extracellular purines participate has dramatically increased. Insights into the physiological roles of purines came from studies of their biological sources and the stimuli for their release.