Activation of protein kinase A accelerates bovine bronchial epithelial cell migration

epithelial cell migration is required for the repair of damaged airway epithelium. We hypothesized that bronchial epithe-lial cell migration during wound repair is influenced by cAMP and the activity of its cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase A (PKA). We found that, when confluent monolayers of bronchial epithelial cells are wounded, an increase in PKA activity occurs. Augmentation of PKA activity with a cell-permeable analog of cAMP, dibu-tyryl adenosine 3,5-cyclic monophosphate, isoproterenol, or a phosphodiesterase inhibitor accelerated migration of nor-mal bronchial epithelial cells in in vitro wound closure assays and Boyden chamber migration assays. A role for PKA activ-ity was also confirmed with a PKA inhibitor, KT-5720, which reduced stimulated migration. Augmentation of PKA activity reduced the levels of active Rho and the formation of foca