Inverse agonists and neutral antagonists of recombinant human A1 adenosine receptors stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Receptor antagonists can be classified as neutral antagonists or antagonists with inverse agonist activity based on their effectiveness to reduce the spontaneous agonist-independent activity of receptors. The goals of this study were to (1) demonstrate that A1-adenosine receptors (A1AdoRs) expressed at high density (4000-8000 fmol/mg of protein) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells cause constitutive activation of inhibitory G proteins and inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity and (2) identify both neutral A1AdoR antagonists and antagonists with inverse agonist activity. The activity of A1AdoR agonists and antagonists was determined by assays of both specific binding of [35S]guanosine-5'-O-(3-thio)triphosphate ([35S]GTPgammaS) to membranes and cAMP content of intact cells in the presence of adenosine deaminase (2-5 units/ml). The A1AdoR agonist N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA) significantly increased binding of [35S]GTPgammaS by 241 +/- 7% compared with control. The A1AdoR antagonists N-0861, N-0840, and WRC-0342 did not alter binding of [35S]GTPgammaS, whereas the antagonists 8-cyclopentyl-1, 3-dipropylxanthine (CPX), CGS-15943, xanthine amine congener, and WRC-0571 significantly reduced binding of [35S]GTPgammaS by 28-53% from control, respectively. The effects of both the agonist N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA) and the antagonist CPX to alter binding of [35S]GTPgammaS were attenuated by 1 micro M N-0861. CPA reduced cAMP content of forskolin-stimulated CHO:A1AdoR cells, and N-0861 and WRC-0342 did not alter cAMP content, but the antagonists CPX and WRC-0571 increased the cAMP content of CHO:A1AdoR cells. The effects of both CPX and WRC-0571 to increase cAMP content of forskolin-stimulated CHO:A1AdoR cells were attenuated by either N-0861 or WRC-0342. The results indicate that both N-0861 and WRC-0342 are neutral antagonists, whereas both CPX and WRC-0571 are antagonists with inverse agonist activity.