The molecular mechanisms underlying vascular
inflammation and associated inflammatory
vascular diseases are not well defined. Here we show that endothelial intracellular
adenosine and its key regulator
adenosine kinase (ADK) play important roles in vascular
inflammation. Pro-inflammatory stimuli lead to endothelial
inflammation by increasing endothelial ADK expression, reducing the level of intracellular
adenosine in endothelial cells, and activating the transmethylation pathway through increasing the association of ADK with
S-adenosylhomocysteine (
SAH) hydrolase (SAHH). Increasing intracellular
adenosine by genetic ADK knockdown or exogenous
adenosine reduces activation of the transmethylation pathway and attenuates the endothelial inflammatory response. In addition, loss of endothelial ADK in mice leads to reduced
atherosclerosis and affords protection against
ischemia/reperfusion injury of the cerebral cortex. Taken together, these results demonstrate that intracellular
adenosine, which is controlled by the key molecular regulator ADK, influences endothelial
inflammation and vascular inflammatory diseases.The molecular mechanisms underlying vascular
inflammation are unclear. Here the authors show that pro-inflammatory stimuli lead to endothelial
inflammation by increasing
adenosine kinase expression, and that its knockdown in endothelial cells inhibits
atherosclerosis and cerebral ischemic injury in mice.