Methods Used in Adenosine Research

In their classic paper in 1929, Drury and Szent-Gyorgyi described a number of the important cardiovascular actions of adenosine. Another thirty years were to pass before the possible physiological role of adenosine in coronary vasodilation was studied by Berne and others. Since then, there has been a tremendous increase in research into the actions of adenosine. Workers from many disciplines have employed a wide variety of techniques, since adenosine is a product of and a substrate for a number of metabolic pathways, is transported into cells, and acts at discrete receptor sites to modulate the activity of adenylate cyclase and to produce important actions on many cells and tissues including platelets, adipo- cytes, heart, blood vessels, and other smooth muscles. International symposia on the actions of adenosine were held in 1978, 1981, and 1982, and the proceedings of these symposia have been published (Baer and Drummond, 1979; Daly et at., 1983; Berne et at., 1983). Since it is not the primary purpose of the present volume to review our current understanding of the nu- merous actions of adenosine, these volumes should be consulted for such details. Rather, the present volume has been planned to provide both graduate students and investigators in pharmacology and related disciplines with a summary of some of the methods now available for the study of the actions of adenosine and, in particular, to highlight their possible uses and limitations.