Stimulation of reactive astrogliosis in vivo by extracellular adenosine diphosphate or an adenosine A2 receptor agonist

Adenosine and its nucleotides adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) stimulate the proliferation of brain astrocytes in vitro and augment the effects of other growth factors. Following brain injury, hypoxia, or around solid tumors with necrotic centers, such as glioblastoma multiformes, high concentrations of adenine nucleotides and adenosine are released into the extracellular space; extracellular adenosine concentrations …