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Key Points Many different components facilitate autocrine purinergic signalling, including pannexin 1 hemichannels (which facilitate ATP release), P2X and P2Y receptors (which respond to ATP), ectonucleotidases (which hydrolyse ATP to adenosine), P1 receptors (which respond to adenosine) and nucleoside transporters and adenosine deaminase (which remove adenosine). Different immune cells express distinct purinergic signalling components, and this has an important role in providing signal amplification following cell activation. The positive autocrine feedback loops mediated by purinergic signalling are essential for gradient sensing by phagocytes and antigen recognition by T cells. When released from damaged, dying and apoptotic cells, ATP can serve as a danger signal that stimulates the NLRP3 (NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing 3) inflammasome, promotes chemotaxis of microglia, and boosts activation of other immune cell types that are recruited to sites of inflammation and tissue damage. High ATP concentrations at sites of inflammation trap neutrophils and other phagocytes by interfering with their autocrine purinergic chemotaxis signalling systems. ATP release and autocrine purinergic signalling can amplify activation signals in immune cells but can also downregulate immune cell responses, either by activating suppressive P2 receptors or through adenosine formation and activation of suppressive A2A receptors. A growing arsenal of pharmacological agents is available to modulate purinergic signalling in immune cells. The most widely investigated drugs target P1 receptors or the molecular processes that control the availability of the P1 receptor ligand adenosine. Here, Wolfgang Junger discusses the importance of purinergic receptor signalling for fine-tuning immune cell responses. Autocrine signalling through purinergic receptors can both amplify and inhibit leukocyte functions; the author explains how this is important for sensing chemotactic gradients and detecting rare antigens. Stimulation of almost all mammalian cell types leads to the release of cellular ATP and autocrine feedback through a diverse array of purinergic receptors. Depending on the types of purinergic receptors that are involved, autocrine signalling can promote or inhibit cell activation and fine-tune functional responses. Recent work has shown that autocrine signalling is an important checkpoint in immune cell activation and allows immune cells to adjust their functional responses based on the extracellular cues provided by their environment. This Review focuses on the roles of autocrine purinergic signalling in the regulation of both innate and adaptive immune responses and discusses the potential of targeting purinergic receptors for treating immune-mediated disease.

Astrocytic dysfunction is a common feature in the brains of depressed subjects. Now, Xin-Hong Zhu and colleagues show that astrocytic release of ATP is reduced in the brains of stressed mice and that restoring brain ATP levels can rapidly reverse depressed behaviors in mice. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a cause of disability that affects approximately 16% of the world's population 1 ; however, little is known regarding the underlying biology of this disorder. Animal studies, postmortem brain analyses and imaging studies of patients with depression have implicated glial dysfunction in MDD pathophysiology 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 . However, the molecular mechanisms through which astrocytes modulate depressive behaviors are largely uncharacterized. Here, we identified ATP as a key factor involved in astrocytic modulation of depressive-like behavior in adult mice. We observed low ATP abundance in the brains of mice that were susceptible to chronic social defeat. Furthermore, we found that the administration of ATP induced a rapid antidepressant-like effect in these mice. Both a lack of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type 2 and transgenic blockage of vesicular gliotransmission induced deficiencies in astrocytic ATP release, causing depressive-like behaviors that could be rescued via the administration of ATP. Using transgenic mice that express a G q G protein–coupled receptor only in astrocytes to enable selective activation of astrocytic Ca 2+ signaling, we found that stimulating endogenous ATP release from astrocytes induced antidepressant-like effects in mouse models of depression. Moreover, we found that P2X2 receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex mediated the antidepressant-like effects of ATP. These results highlight astrocytic ATP release as a biological mechanism of MDD.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is actively released in the extracellular environment in response to tissue damage and cellular stress. Through the activation of P2X and P2Y receptors, extracellular ATP enhances tissue repair, promotes the recruitment of immune phagocytes and dendritic cells, and acts as a co-activator of NLR family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes. The conversion of extracellular ATP to adenosine, in contrast, essentially through the enzymatic activity of the ecto-nucleotidases CD39 and CD73, acts as a negative-feedback mechanism to prevent excessive immune responses. Here we review the effects of extracellular ATP and adenosine on tumorigenesis. First, we summarize the functions of extracellular ATP and adenosine in the context of tumor immunity. Second, we present an overview of the immunosuppressive and pro-angiogenic effects of extracellular adenosine. Third, we present experimental evidence that extracellular ATP and adenosine receptors are expressed by tumor cells and enhance tumor growth. Finally, we discuss recent studies, including our own work, which suggest that therapeutic approaches that promote ATP-mediated activation of inflammasomes, or inhibit the accumulation of tumor-derived extracellular adenosine, may constitute effective new means to induce anticancer activity.

Kinesin-1 is a dimeric ATP-dependent motor protein that moves towards microtubules (+) ends. This movement is driven by two conformations (docked and undocked) of the two motor domains carboxy-terminal peptides (named neck linkers), in correlation with the nucleotide bound to each motor domain. Despite extensive data on kinesin-1, the structural connection between its nucleotide cycle and movement has remained elusive, mostly because the structure of the critical tubulin-bound apo-kinesin state was unknown. Here we report the 2.2 Å structure of this complex. From its comparison with detached kinesin–ADP and tubulin-bound kinesin–ATP, we identify three kinesin motor subdomains that move rigidly along the nucleotide cycle. Our data reveal how these subdomains reorient on binding to tubulin and when ATP binds, leading respectively to ADP release and to neck linker docking. These results establish a framework for understanding the transformation of chemical energy into mechanical work by (+) end-directed kinesins. A complete description of how the motor protein kinesin-1 walks along microtubules is missing because of the lack of a key structure. Here, Cao et al . solve the apo-kinesin:microtubule structure, completing the structure set and permitting the description of the structural changes that occur during the nucleotide cycle and their functional consequences.

Microglia are primary immune sentinels of the CNS. Following injury, these cells migrate or extend processes toward sites of tissue damage. CNS injury is accompanied by release of nucleotides, serving as signals for microglial activation or chemotaxis. Microglia express several purinoceptors, including a G i -coupled subtype that has been implicated in ATP- and ADP-mediated migration in vitro . Here we show that microglia from mice lacking G i -coupled P2Y 12 receptors exhibit normal baseline motility but are unable to polarize, migrate or extend processes toward nucleotides in vitro or in vivo . Microglia in P2ry 12 −/− mice show significantly diminished directional branch extension toward sites of cortical damage in the living mouse. Moreover, P2Y 12 expression is robust in the 'resting' state, but dramatically reduced after microglial activation. These results imply that P2Y 12 is a primary site at which nucleotides act to induce microglial chemotaxis at early stages of the response to local CNS injury.

The P2X7 receptor is a ligand-gated, cation-selective channel whose main physiological ligand is ATP. P2X7 receptor activation may also be triggered by ARTC2.2-dependent ADP ribosylation in the presence of extracellular NAD. Upon activation, this receptor induces several responses, including the influx of calcium and sodium ions, phosphatidylserine externalization, the formation of a non-selective membrane pore, and ultimately cell death. P2X7 receptor activation depends on the availability of extracellular nucleotides, whose concentrations are regulated by the action of extracellular nucleotidases such as CD39 and CD38. The P2X7 receptor has been extensively studied in the context of the immune response, and it has been reported to be involved in inflammasome activation, cytokine production, and the migration of different innate immune cells in response to ATP. In adaptive immune responses, the P2X7 receptor has been linked to T cell activation, differentiation, and apoptosis induction. In this review, we will discuss the evidence of the role of the P2X7 receptor on T cell differentiation and in the control of T cell responses in inflammatory conditions.

In the bacterium Escherichia coli, the Min proteins oscillate between the cell poles to select the cell center as division site. This dynamic pattern has been proposed to arise by self-organization of these proteins, and several models have suggested a reaction-diffusion type mechanism. Here, we found that the Min proteins spontaneously formed planar surface waves on a flat membrane in vitro. The formation and maintenance of these patterns, which extended for hundreds of micrometers, required adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), and they persisted for hours. We present a reaction-diffusion model of the MinD and MinE dynamics that accounts for our experimental observations and also captures the in vivo oscillations.

Astrocyte responds to neuronal activity with calcium waves and modulates synaptic transmission through the release of gliotransmitters. However, little is known about the direct effect of gliotransmitters on the excitability of neuronal networks beyond synapses. Here we show that selective stimulation of astrocytes expressing channelrhodopsin-2 in the CA1 area specifically increases the firing frequency of CCK-positive but not parvalbumin-positive interneurons and decreases the firing rate of pyramidal neurons, phenomena mimicked by exogenously applied ATP. Further evidences indicate that ATP-induced increase and decrease of excitability are caused, respectively, by P2Y1 receptor-mediated inhibition of a two-pore domain potassium channel and A1 receptor-mediated opening of a G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channel. Moreover, the activation of ChR2-expressing astrocytes reduces the power of kainate-induced hippocampal ex vivo gamma oscillation. Thus, through distinct receptor subtypes coupled with different K + channels, astrocyte-derived ATP differentially modulates the excitability of different types of neurons and efficiently controls the activity of neuronal network. Astrocyte in the brain regulates synaptic transmission by releasing gliotransmitters. Here, Tan and colleagues use optogenetic stimulation of astrocytes to show differential neuronal subtype-specific purinoceptor responses to astrocytic ATP release to affect network excitability.

Although the neutrophil recruitment cascade during inflammation has been well described, the molecular players that halt neutrophil chemotaxis remain unclear. In this study, we found that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was a potent stop signal for chemotactic neutrophil migration. Treatment with an antagonist of the ATP receptor (P2X1) in primary human neutrophils or knockout of the P2X1 receptor in neutrophil-like differentiated HL-60 (dHL-60) cells recovered neutrophil chemotaxis. Further observations showed that LPS-induced ATP release through connexin 43 (Cx43) hemichannels was responsible for the activation of the P2X1 receptor and the subsequent calcium influx. Increased intracellular calcium stopped neutrophil chemotaxis by activating myosin light chain (MLC) through the myosin light chain kinase (MLCK)-dependent pathway. Taken together, these data identify a previously unknown function of LPS-induced autocrine ATP signaling in inhibiting neutrophil chemotaxis by enhancing MLC phosphorylation, which provides important evidence that stoppage of neutrophil chemotaxis at infectious foci plays a key role in the defense against invading pathogens.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a devastating as yet untreatable disease. We previously investigated the endogenous mediators released on lung injury and showed that uric acid is a danger signal activating Nod-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in lung inflammation and fibrosis (Gasse et al., Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2009;179:903-913). Here we address the role of extracellular adenosine triphosphate (eATP) in pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. ATP was quantified in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of control subjects and patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The contribution of eATP as a danger signal was assessed in a murine model of lung fibrosis induced by airway-administered bleomycin (BLM), an intercalating agent that causes DNA strand breaks. Fibrotic patients have elevated ATP content in BALF in comparison with control individuals. In mice, we report an early increase in eATP levels in BALF on BLM administration. Modulation of eATP levels with the ATP-degrading enzyme apyrase greatly reduced BLM-induced inflammatory cell recruitment, lung IL-1β, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 production, while administration of ATP-γS, a stable ATP derivative, enhanced inflammation. P2X(7) receptor-deficient mice presented dramatically reduced lung inflammation, with reduced fibrosis markers such as lung collagen content and matrix-remodeling proteins TIMP-1 and matrix metalloproteinase-9. The acute inflammation depends on a functional pannexin-1 hemichannel protein. In vitro, ATP is released by pulmonary epithelial cells on BLM-induced stress and this is partly dependent on the presence of functional P2X(7) receptor and pannexin-1 hemichannel. ATP released from BLM-injured lung cells constitutes a major endogenous danger signal that engages the P2X(7) receptor/pannexin-1 axis, leading to IL-1β maturation and lung fibrosis.