The role of β2 antagonist (timolol)‎ and β2 agonist (salbutamol)‎ on cell migration in vitro

Abstract EN

Cell migration is a complex and dynamic biological process, it's the movement of the cell from one area to another, generally in response to a chemical signal.

It is an essential feature of living cells for functions such as wound repair, tissue regeneration, cell differentiation, and immune response.

Keratinocytes have the enzymatic machinery to generate catecholamines, they can synthesize endogenous epinephrine, which could be locally secreted into the wound and function in an autocrine manner.

To determine whether beta2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) antagonist and agonist altered endothelial cells (EC) migration, single-cell migration (SCM) assays were performed with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in the presence and absence of β2AR agonist and antagonist.

Screening the tested drugs revealed that the salbutamol (β2AR agonist) significantly decreases migration rate on (HUVEC) compared with control group, while timolol (β2AR antagonist) significantly increases the migration rate.

In conclusion the administration of timolol increase single cell migration resulting and enhancement of re-epitheliazation, while administration of salbutamol decrease single cell migration resulting in inhibition of wound re-epitheliazation.