Analysis of the Indacaterol-Regulated Transcriptome in Human Airway Epithelial Cells Implicates Gene Expression Changes in the Adverse and Therapeutic Effects of β2-Adrenoceptor Agonists

The contribution of gene expression changes to the adverse and therapeutic effects of beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists in asthma was investigated using human airway epithelial cells as a therapeutically relevant target. Operational model-fitting established that the long-acting beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists (LABA) indacaterol, salmeterol, formoterol, and picumeterol were full agonists on BEAS-2B cells transfected with a cAMP-response element reporter but differed in efficacy (indacaterol >= formoterol > salmeterol >= picumeterol). The transcriptomic signature of indacaterol in BEAS-2B cells identified 180, 368, 252, and 10 genes that were differentially expressed (> 1.5- to < 0.67- fold) after 1-, 2-, 6-, and 18-hour of exposure, respectively. Many upregulated genes (e.g., AREG, BDNF, CCL20, CXCL2, EDN1, IL6, IL15, IL20) encode proteins with proinflammatory activity and are annotated by several, enriched gene ontology (GO) terms, including cellular response to interleukin-1, cytokine activity, and positive regulation of neutrophil chemotaxis. The general enriched GO term extracellular space was also associated with indacaterol-induced genes, and many of those, including CRISPLD2, DMBT1, GAS1, and SOCS3, have putative anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and/or antiviral activity. Numerous indacaterol-regulated genes were also induced or repressed in BEAS-2B cells and human primary bronchial epithelial cells by the low efficacy LABA salmeterol, indicating that this genomic effect was neither unique to indacaterol nor restricted to the BEAS-2B airway epithelial cell line. Collectively, these data suggest that the consequences of inhaling a beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonist may be complex and involve widespread changes in gene expression. We propose that this genomic effect represents a generally unappreciated mechanism that may contribute to the adverse and therapeutic actions of beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists in asthma.