 It mediates a sustained cardioprotective function during cardiac ischemia, it is involved in the inhibition of neutrophil degranulation in neutrophil-mediated tissue injury, it has been implicated in both neuroprotective and neurodegenerative effects, and it may also mediate both cell proliferation and cell death.Recent publications demonstrate that adenosine A3 receptor antagonists (SSR161421) could have therapeutic potential in bronchial asthma (17,18).Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.