Sympathetic nerves may play a role in vascular disorders of the eye. In the present study, we hypothesized that activation of beta3-adrenergic receptors on retinal endothelial cells would promote migration and proliferation of these cells, two markers of an angiogenic phenotype. We show, for the first time, expression of beta3-adrenergic receptors on cultured retinal endothelial cells. Activation of these receptors with BRL37344, a specific beta3-adrenergic receptor agonist, promoted migration that was blocked by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), the mitogen activated protein kinase component MEK, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9. BRL37344 stimulated proliferation, which could be blocked by inhibitors of Src, PI3K, and MEK. These cells also express the beta1-adrenergic receptor with no beta2-adrenergic receptor expression observed. Stimulation of the beta1-adrenergic receptor with xamoterol, a specific partial agonist, did not promote proliferation or migration. These results support the hypothesis that beta3-adrenergic receptors play a role in proliferation and migration of cultured human retinal endothelial cells.
