The Catalytic α Subunit of cAMP‐Dependent Protein Kinase Regulates Formoterol‐Induced Gene Expression in BEAS‐2B Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Rationale The β 2 ‐adrenoceptor is a GPCR that classically couples to Gsα, the activation of adenylyl cyclases and the formation of cAMP. Through distinct signalling complexes often containing cAMP‐dependent protein kinase (PKA), cAMP mediates a myriad of functional responses including the regulation of gene expression. We have shown previously that in the BEAS‐2B human airway epithelial cell line, long acting β 2 ‐adrenoceptor agonists (LABAs) induce cAMP response element (CRE) dependent transcription, which we suggest contributes to their therapeutic activity in obstructive lung diseases. In the current study we have extended those findings by identifying the PKA catalytic subunit responsible for mediating gene expression induced by the LABA, formoterol. Methods Microarray, RT‐PCR, western blotting and gene silencing were used to identify and implicate PKA catalytic subunits in the regulation of LABA‐induced gene expression. A CRE reporter construct stably transfected into BEAS‐2B cells was used for this purpose together with an assessment of CREB phosphorylation and an analysis of a panel of cAMP‐inducible genes ( NR4A3, CRISPLD2, RGS2, NR4A2, CD200 and IL‐6 ). Results Microarray‐based gene expression profiling indicated that BEAS‐2B cells express mRNA transcripts for PRKACA (Cα), PRKACB (Cβ) and PRKX (C x ) whereas PRKACG (Cg) was absent. These data were confirmed at the protein level by western blotting. siRNAs were optimized to achieve 80 to 90% knockdown of PRKACA , PRKACB and PRKX , which was reproduced at the protein level. Under these conditions, silencing PRKACA was associated with a significant (~50%) abrogation of formoterol‐induced CRE reporter activation, CREB phosphorylation and gene expression. No additional effect was seen when siRNAs that target PRKACB or PRKX were used in combination with those directed towards PRKACA . Conclusions These data show that Cα is an essential cAMP signalling component controlling formoterol‐induced gene transcription in BEAS‐2B cells. The incomplete inhibition produced under conditions of 80–90% Cα knockdown implies that this PKA catalytic subunit is present in significant excess of that required to maximally mediate cAMP‐induced gene expression. This is an initial first step at identifying cAMP signalling components (adenylyl cyclases, scaffold proteins, phosphodiesterases and effectors) that control LABA‐induced functional responses in airway structural cells. We propose that identifying these components and their assembly into multiprotein signalling complexes could provide new opportunities for the development of novel therapies for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Support or Funding Information Alberta Lung Association (ALA)
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.002 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".