P2Y receptors play a critical role in epithelial cell communication and migration

Cellular injury induces a complex series of events that involves Ca2+ signaling, cell communication, and migration. One of the first responses following mechanical injury is the propagation of a Ca2+ wave (Klepeis et al. [ 2001 ] J Cell Sci 114(Pt 23):4185–4195). The wave is generated by the extracellular release of ATP, which also induces phosphorylation of ERK (Yang et al. [ 2004 ] J Cell Biochem 91(5):938–950). ATP and other nucleotides, which bind to and activate specific purinergic receptors were used to mimic injury. Our goal was to determine which of the P2Y purinergic receptors are expressed and stimulated in corneal epithelial cells and which signaling pathways are activated leading to changes in cell migration, an event critical for wound closure. In this study, we demonstrated that the P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, P2Y6, and P2Y11 receptors were present in corneal epithelial cells. A potency profile was determined by Ca2+ imaging for nucleotide agonists as follows: ATP ≥ UTP > ADP ≥ UDP. In contrast, negligible responses were seen for β,γ‐meATP, a general P2X receptor agonist and adenosine, a P1 receptor agonist. Homologous desensitization of the Ca2+ response was observed for the four nucleotides. However, P2Y receptor internalization and degradation was not detected following stimulation with ATP, which is in contrast to EGFR internalization observed in response to EGF. ATP induced cell migration was comparable to that of EGF and was maximal at 1 μM. Cells exposed to ATP, UTP, ADP, and UDP demonstrated a rapid twofold increase in phosphorylation of paxillin at Y31 and Y118, however, there was no activation elicited by β,γ‐meATP or adenosine. Additional studies demonstrated that wound closure was inhibited by reactive blue 2. These results indicate that P2Y receptors play a critical role in the injury repair process. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.