Sustained Alleviation of Autoimmunity by Activating α2B-adrenergic Receptors.

Catecholamines binding to α- and β-adrenergic receptors on immune cells have recently been shown to play an important role in regulating immune responses. Although α2-adrenergic receptors are known to modulate the immune response in different ways, the therapeutic exploration of their utility has been limited by the lack of agonists selective for the three α2-adrenergic subtypes. We report in this study the identification of the agonist AGN-762, which activates α2B- and α2C-adrenergic subtypes, but not the α2A subtype.