Asthma is a disease of airway inflammation and hyper-reactivity associated with lymphocytic infiltration in the bronchial submucosa. We recently demonstrated that human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells express the cell adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, which are up-regulated by cytokines such as TNF-alpha, and which mediate binding of activated T lymphocytes. In this study, we examined whether an increase in [cAMP]i, presumably via activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, modulates TNF-alpha-induced ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on ASM. We found that treatment of ASM with either forskolin, which directly activates adenylyl cyclase, or with cholera toxin, which activates the heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein, Gs, inhibited TNF-alpha-induced cell adhesion molecule expression. In addition, treatment with either isoproterenol or prostaglandin E2, which activates receptors coupled to Gs and increases [cAMP]i, also inhibited TNF-alpha-induced expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on ASM. Furthermore, adhesion of activated T cells to TNF-alpha-stimulated ASM was inhibited by treating the ASM cells with either forskolin or PGE2. These data suggest that cAMP-dependent protein kinase activation decreases cytokine-induced expression of cell adhesion molecules on ASM cells, modulates T cell binding to airway myocytes and, thus, suggests novel therapeutic approaches to airway inflammation.