Direct activation of the serine/threonine kinase activity of Raf-1 through tyrosine phosphorylation by the PDGF beta-receptor

We have examined the interaction between the serine/threonine kinase proto-oncogene product Raf-1 and the tyrosine kinase PDGF beta-receptor. Raf-1 tyrosine phosphorylation and kinase activity were increased by PDGF treatment of 3T3 cells or CHO cells expressing wild-type PDGF receptors but not mutant receptors defective in transmitting mitogenic signals, suggesting that the increase in Raf-1 kinase activity is a significant event in PDGF-induced mitogenesis. Concurrent with these increases, Raf-1 associated with the ligand-activated PDGF receptor. Furthermore, both mammalian Raf-1 and Raf-1 expressed using a recombinant baculoviral vector, associated in vitro with baculoviral-expressed PDGF receptor. This association was markedly decreased by prior phosphatase treatment of the receptor. Following incubation of partially purified baculoviral-expressed PDGF receptor with partially purified Raf-1, Raf-1 became phosphorylated on tyrosine and its serine/threonine kinase activity increased 4- to 6-fold. This is the first demonstration of the direct modulation of a protein activity by a growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase.     

Evidence for one or more Raf-1 kinase kinase(s) activated by insulin and polypeptide growth factors

The protein product of the Raf-1 proto-oncogene is a protein serine/threonine kinase that is activated after stimulation of cells with insulin and other mitogens. To investigate the mechanism of this activation, we used purified Raf-1 expressed in E. coli as a substrate for a putative Raf-1 protein kinase kinase. In three different insulin-sensitive cell types, insulin activated Raf-1 kinase kinase activity in crude cytosolic cellular fractions. The insulin stimulation of this activity was evident as early as 2 min after exposure to insulin, maximal at 5-8 min, and inapparent at 15 min. Phosphoamino acid analysis of phosphorylated Raf-1 revealed that serine was the primary phosphate acceptor for the insulin-activated kinase or kinases; small amounts of phosphothreonine were also detected. The insulin effect occurred in cells depleted of protein kinase C, and in extracts depleted of endogenous Raf-1 kinase by immunodepletion; these data argue against protein kinase C or Raf-1 kinase itself being the insulin-stimulated activity. The insulin-activated kinase or kinases phosphorylated the Raf-1 protein on multiple sites in vitro, as evidenced by tryptic mapping; at least some of these appeared to overlap with sites phosphorylated in response to serum in intact cells. Several other mitogens and growth factors stimulated Raf-1 kinase kinase activity, including epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, serum, and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. This insulin- and mitogen-stimulated Raf-1 kinase kinase activity may play a role in mediating the phosphorylation and possibly the activation of the Raf-1 kinase by insulin and other growth factors.     

Insulin activates the Raf-1 protein kinase

Several growth factors and mitogens have been shown to activate the proto-oncogene product Raf-1 protein kinase in murine fibroblasts, apparently through a direct agonist-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of the Raf-1 protein. We investigated the possibility that insulin could also activate the Raf-1 kinase, since its receptor also contains an intrinsic insulin-activated protein tyrosine kinase activity. In several cell lines expressing relatively large numbers of insulin receptors, insulin rapidly stimulated the phosphorylation of immunoreactive Raf-1 protein. In H35 cells, a line of well differentiated rat hepatoma cells, the effect of insulin was maximal by 6 min and at 7 nM insulin and occurred normally in cells virtually completely depleted of protein kinase C activity. The insulin-stimulated increase in Raf-1 protein phosphorylation occurred concurrently with a 3-fold increase in Raf-1 protein kinase activity. However, phosphoamino acid analysis showed that only phosphoserine and a trace of phosphothreonine were present in the Raf-1 protein after insulin stimulation of the cells. This was true even when investigated at shorter times (4 min) after insulin stimulation and despite the use of phosphotyrosine phosphatase inhibitors. We conclude that insulin can rapidly activate the Raf-1 kinase in some insulin-sensitive cell types but that this activation probably occurs through a mechanism distinct from direct phosphorylation of the Raf-1 protein by the insulin receptor protein tyrosine kinase.     

Phosphorylation of the myosin-binding subunit of myosin phosphatase by Raf-1 and inhibition of phosphatase activity.

Raf-1 serine/threonine protein kinase plays an important role in cell survival, proliferation, and migration; however, the specific targets of Raf-1 in diverse cellular processes are not clearly defined. Myosin phosphatase activity is critical to the regulation of cytoskeletal reorganization, cytokinesis, and cell motility. Here, we describe the association of Raf-1 with myosin phosphatase and phosphorylation of the regulatory myosin-binding subunit (MBS) of myosin phosphatase by Raf-1. Treatment of cells with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate has been shown to stimulate Raf-1 protein kinase. To determine the effect of enzymatic activation of Raf-1 on MBS phosphorylation, COS-1 cells were transiently transfected with FLAG-tagged full-length Raf-1. A significantly higher phosphorylation of purified glutathione S-transferase-tagged truncated MBS protein (amino acids 654-880) occurred in the presence of FLAG-Raf-1 immunoprecipitated from phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-treated cells compared with untreated cells ( approximately 3.0-fold). Using a sequential kinase-phosphatase assay and phosphorylated myosin light chain as substrate in the phosphatase reaction, we showed that Raf-1-associated protein phosphatase-specific activity was inhibited (relative phosphatase activity without and with adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate): 100 and approximately 30%, respectively). Previously, ionizing radiation has been shown to activate Raf-1 (Kasid, U., Suy, S., Dent, P., Ray, S., Whiteside, T. L., and Sturgill, T. W. (1996) Nature 382, 813-816). Exposure of cells to ionizing radiation resulted in the increased association of Raf-1 with MBS (3-6-fold versus unirradiated control) and inhibition of Raf-1-associated protein phosphatase-specific activity (relative phosphatase activity without and with ionizing radiation: 100 and approximately 54%, respectively). Our studies identify MBS as a new substrate of Raf-1 and implicate a role for Raf-1 in the regulation of pathways involving myosin phosphatase activity.     

Erythropoietin-stimulated Raf-1 tyrosine phosphorylation is associated with the tyrosine kinase Lyn in J2E erythroleukemic cells.

The serine/threonine kinase Raf-1 is crucial for transducing intracellular signals emanating from numerous growth factors. Here we used the J2E erythroid cell line transformed by the nu-raf/nu-myc oncogenes to examine the effects of erythropoietin on endogenous Raf-1 activity. Despite the presence of constitutively active v-raf in these cells, Raf-1 exokinase activity increased after erythropoietin stimulation. This increase in enzymatic activity coincided with tyrosine phosphorylation of Raf-1 on residue Y341. Significantly, the tyrosine kinase Lyn coimmunoprecipitated with Raf-1, and Raf-1 was not tyrosine-phosphorylated in a J2E subclone lacking Lyn. Therefore, it was concluded that Lyn may be the kinase responsible for tyrosine phosphorylating Raf-1 and increasing its exokinase activity in response to erythropoietin.     

Transient activation of RAF-1, MEK, and ERK2 coincides kinetically with ternary complex factor phosphorylation and immediate-early gene promoter activity in vivo.

We have investigated the early in vivo signaling events triggered by serum that lead to activation of the c-fos proto-oncogene in HeLa cells. Both RAF-1 and MEK kinase activities are fully induced within 3 min of serum treatment and quickly decrease thereafter, slightly preceding the activation and inactivation of p42MAPK/ERK2. ERK2 activity correlates tightly with a transient phosphatase-sensitive modification of ternary complex factor (TCF), manifested by the slower electrophoretic mobility of TCF-containing protein-DNA complexes. These induced complexes in turn correlate with the activity of the c-fos, egr-1, and junB promoters. Phorbol ester treatment induces the same events but with slower and prolonged kinetics. Inhibition of serine/threonine phosphatase activities by okadaic acid treatment reverses the repression of the c-fos promoter either after induction or without induction. This corresponds to the presence of the induced complexes and of ERK2 activity, as well as to the activation of a number of other kinases. Inhibition of tyrosine phosphatase activities by sodium vanadate treatment delays but does not block ERK2 inactivation, TCF dephosphorylation, and c-fos repression. The tight linkage in vivo between the activity of MAP kinase, TCF phosphorylation, and immediate-early gene promoter activity is consistent with the notion that a stable ternary complex over the serum response element is a direct target for the MAP kinase signaling cascade. Furthermore, serine/threonine phosphatases are implicated in regulating the kinase cascade, as well as the state of TCF modification and c-fos promoter activity, in vivo.     

Oncogene activation of HIV-LTR-driven expression via the NF-kappa B binding sites.

The Raf-1 proto-oncogene product is a highly regulated serine/threonine kinase that functions in signal transduction downstream from growth factor receptors and upstream from nuclear proto-oncogene products. Using a transient cotransfection assay we have found that activated Raf-1 activates expression from the HIV-LTR. Analysis of a series of 5' deletion and point mutations revealed the NF-kappa B motifs as the Raf-responsive element in the HIV-LTR. Moreover, Raf-BXB activated expression from heterologous promoters driven by the HIV NF-kappa B binding sites. In addition to Raf, we show that v-Src, v-H-Ras and v-Mos activate HIV-LTR expression through the NF-kappa B binding sites and v-H-Ras-induced HIV-LTR expression is mediated by Raf-1. These findings may have implications for the involvement of the cellular homologues of these oncogenes in the switch from latent to productive infection by HIV in response to T-cell activation.     

Insulin and platelet-derived growth factor stimulate phosphorylation of the c-raf product at serine and threonine residues in intact cells

We have examined the phosphorylation of the serine threonine kinase, the product of c-raf proto-oncogene in response to insulin or platelet-derived growth factor in intact cells. Both insulin and platelet-derived growth factor stimulated phosphorylation of the c-raf protein about 2- to 3-fold. The phosphorylation occurred exclusively on serine and threonine residues; phosphotyrosine was not detected. In immune-complex kinase assays, treatment with insulin, and platelet-derived growth factor increased autophosphorylation of the c-raf kinase, suggesting activation of its kinase activity. To investigate whether the phosphorylation of the c-raf protein in intact cells results from an autophosphorylation event or from the phosphorylation by other cellular kinase(s), we replaced lysine 375 in the putative ATP-binding domain of the c-raf protein with alanine using oligonucleotide site-directed mutagenesis and expressed the mutated protein in NIH3T3 cells. The substitution resulted in the inactivation of the serine/threonine-specific autophosphorylation in immune-complex kinase assays. In intact cells, however, although phosphorylation of the mutant protein in response to insulin and platelet-derived growth factor occurred to a lesser extent than that of the wild-type protein, the phosphopeptide maps were indistinguishable. These results suggest that serine threonine phosphorylation might be responsible for the activation of c-raf kinase upon treatment of cells with insulin and platelet-derived growth factor, and most of the phosphate associated with the c-raf protein results from its phosphorylation by as yet uncharacterized cellular serine/threonine kinase(s).     

Interleukin-2-triggered Raf-1 expression, phosphorylation, and associated kinase activity increase through G1 and S in CD3-stimulated primary human T cells.

To gain further insight into the role of Raf-1 in normal cell growth, c-raf-1 mRNA expression, Raf-1 protein production, and Raf-1-associated kinase activity in normal human T cells were analyzed. In contrast to the constitutive expression of Raf-1 in continuously proliferating cell lines, c-raf-1 mRNA and Raf-1 protein levels were barely detectable in freshly isolated G0 T lymphocytes. Previous work with fibroblasts has suggested that Raf-1 plays a signaling role in the G0-G1 phase transition. In T cells, triggering via the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR)-CD3 complex (TCR/CD3) resulted in an approximately fourfold increase in c-raf-1 mRNA. In addition, the promotion of G1 progression by interleukin 2 (IL-2) was associated with a 5- to 10-fold immediate/early induction of c-raf-1 mRNA, resulting in up to a 12-fold increase in Raf-1 protein expression. TCR/CD3 activation did not alter the phosphorylation state of Raf-1, whereas interleukin 2 receptor stimulation resulted in a rapid increase in the phosphorylation state of a subpopulation of Raf-1 molecules progressively increasing throughout G1. These findings were complemented by assays for Raf-1-associated kinase activity which revealed a gradual accumulation of serine and threonine autokinase activity in Raf-1 immunoprecipitates during G1, which remained elevated throughout DNA replication.     

Critical tyrosine residues regulate the enzymatic and biological activity of Raf-1 kinase.

The serine/threonine kinase activity of the Raf-1 proto-oncogene product is stimulated by the activation of many tyrosine kinases, including growth factor receptors and pp60v-src. Recent studies of growth factor signal transduction pathways demonstrate that Raf-1 functions downstream of activated tyrosine kinases and p21ras and upstream of mitogen-activated protein kinase. However, coexpression of both activated tyrosine kinases and p21ras is required for maximal activation of Raf-1 in the baculovirus-Sf9 expression system. In this study, we investigated the role of tyrosine kinases and tyrosine phosphorylation in the regulation of Raf-1 activity. Using the baculovirus-Sf9 expression system, we identified Tyr-340 and Tyr-341 as the major tyrosine phosphorylation sites of Raf-1 when coexpressed with activated tyrosine kinases. Introduction of a negatively charged residue that may mimic the effect of phosphorylation at these sites activated the catalytic activity of Raf-1 and generated proteins that could transform BALB/3T3 cells and induce the meiotic maturation of Xenopus oocytes. In contrast, substitution of noncharged residues that were unable to be phosphorylated produced a protein that could not be enzymatically activated by tyrosine kinases and that could block the meiotic maturation of oocytes induced by components of the receptor tyrosine kinase pathway. These findings demonstrate that maturation of the tyrosine phosphorylation sites can dramatically alter the function of Raf-1. In addition, this is the first report that a transforming Raf-1 protein can be generated by a single amino acid substitution.     

Increased protein kinase C activity is linked to reduced insulin receptor autophosphorylation in liver of starved rats

Phosphorylation of the insulin receptor beta-subunit on serine/threonine residues by protein kinase C reduces both receptor kinase activity and insulin action in cultured cells. Whether this mechanism regulates insulin action in intact animals was investigated in rats rendered insulin-resistant by 3 days of starvation. Insulin-stimulated autophosphorylation of the partially purified hepatic insulin receptor beta-subunit was decreased by 45% in starved animals compared to fed controls. This autophosphorylation defect was entirely reversed by removal of pre-existing phosphate from the receptor with alkaline phosphatase, suggesting that increased basal phosphorylation on serine/threonine residues may cause the decreased receptor tyrosine kinase activity. Tryptic removal of a C-terminal region of the receptor beta-subunit containing the Ser/Thr phosphorylation sites similarly normalized receptor autophosphorylation. To investigate which kinase(s) may be responsible for such increased Ser/Thr phosphorylation in vivo, protein kinase C and cAMP-dependent protein kinase A in liver were studied. A 2-fold increase in protein kinase C activity was found in both cytosol and membrane extracts from starved rats as compared to controls, while protein kinase A activity was diminished in the cytosol of starved rats. A parallel increase in protein kinase C was demonstrated by immunoblotting with a polyclonal antibody which recognizes several protein kinase C isoforms. These findings suggest that in starved, insulin-resistant animals, an increase in hepatic protein kinase C activity is associated with increased Ser/Thr phosphorylation which in turn decreases autophosphorylation and function of the insulin receptor kinase.     

Dephosphorylation increases insulin-stimulated receptor kinase activity in skeletal muscle of obese Zucker rats

Serine/threonine phosphorylation of insulin receptor has been implicated in the development of insulin resistance. To investigate whether dephosphorylation of serine/threonine residues of the insulin receptor may restore the decreased insulin-stimulated receptor tyrosine kinase activity in skeletal muscle of obese Zucker rats, insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity was measured before and after alkaline phosphatase treatment. Compared to lean controls, insulin-stimulated glucose transport was depressed by 61% (p < 0.05) in obese Zucker rats. The insulin receptor and insulin receptor substrate-1 contents were decreased by 14% (p < 0.05) and 16% (p < 0.05), respectively, in skeletal muscle of obese Zucker rats. In vivo insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor and insulin receptor substrate-1 was depressed by 82% (p < 0.05) and 86% (p < 0.05), respectively. In the meantime, in vitro insulin-stimulated receptor tyrosine kinase activity in obese rats was decreased by 39% (p < 0.05). Dephosphorylation of the insulin receptor by prior alkaline phosphatase treatment increased insulin-stimulated receptor tyrosine kinase activity in both lean and obese Zucker rats, but the increase was three times greater in obese Zucker rats (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that excessive serine/threonine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor in obese Zucker rats may be a cause for insulin resistance in skeletal muscle.     

Akt-dependent antiapoptotic action of insulin is sensitive to farnesyltransferase inhibitor

CHO cells expressing the human insulin receptors (IR) were used to evaluate the effect of the potent farnesyltransferase inhibitor, manumycin, on insulin antiapoptotic function. Cell treatment with manumycin blocked insulin's ability to suppress pro-apoptotic caspase-3 activity which led to time-dependent proteolytic cleavage of two nuclear target proteins. The Raf-1/MEK/ERK cascade and the serine/threonine protein kinase Akt are two survival pathways that may be activated in response to insulin. We tested the hypothesis that inhibition of farnesylated Ras was causally related to manumycin-induced apoptosis and showed that the response to manumycin was found to be independent of K-Ras function because membrane association and activation of endogenous K-Ras proteins in terms of GTP loading and ERK activation were unabated following treatment with manumycin. Moreover, blocking p21Ras/Raf-1/MEK/ERK cascade by the expression of a transdominant inhibitory mSOS1 mutant in CHO-IR cells kept cells sensitive to the antiapoptotic action of insulin. Insulin-dependent activation of Akt was blocked by 4 h treatment with manumycin (P < 0.01), a kinetic too rapid to be explained by Ras inhibition. This study suggests that the depletion of short-lived farnesylated proteins by manumycin suppresses the antiapoptotic action of insulin at least in part by disrupting Akt activation but not that of the K-Ras/Raf-1/ERK-dependent cascade.     

Raf-1 protein kinase is important for progesterone-induced Xenopus oocyte maturation and acts downstream of mos.

In somatic cells, the Raf-1 serine/threonine protein kinase is activated by several polypeptide growth factors. We investigated the role of Raf-1 in progesterone-induced meiotic maturation of Xenopus laevis oocytes. Raf-1 enzymatic activity and phosphorylation (reflected by a mobility shift on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels) were increased in oocytes following progesterone stimulation. The increase in Raf-1 activity was concurrent with an elevation in the activity of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. When RNA encoding an oncogenic form of Raf-1 (v-Raf) was injected into immature oocytes, MAP kinase mobility shift, germinal vesicle breakdown, and histone H1 phosphorylation increased markedly. When RNA encoding a dominant-negative version of Raf-1 was injected, progesterone-induced oocyte maturation was blocked. When RNA encoding Xenopus mos (mosxe) was injected into oocytes, Raf-1 and MAP kinase mobility shifts were observed after several hours. Also, when antisense mosxe oligonucleotides were injected into oocytes, progesterone-induced Raf-1 and MAP kinase mobility shifts were blocked. Finally, when antisense mosxe oligonucleotides were coinjected with v-Raf RNA into oocytes, histone H1 kinase activation, germinal vesicle breakdown, and MAP kinase mobility shift occurred. These findings suggest that Raf-1 activity is required for progesterone-induced oocyte maturation and that Raf-1 is downstream of mosxe activity.     

Usage of tautomycetin,a novel inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), reveals that PP1 is a positive regulator of Raf-1 in vivo

Protein phosphatase type 1 (PP1), together with protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), is a major eukaryotic serine/threonine protein phosphatase involved in regulation of numerous cell functions. Although the roles of PP2A have been studied extensively using okadaic acid, a well known inhibitor of PP2A, biological analysis of PP1 has remained restricted because of lack of a specific inhibitor. Recently we reported that tautomycetin (TC) is a highly specific inhibitor of PP1. To elucidate the biological effects of TC, we demonstrated in preliminary experiments that treatment of COS-7 cells with 5 microm TC for 5 h inhibits endogenous PP1 by more than 90% without affecting PP2A activity. Therefore, using TC as a specific PP1 inhibitor, the biological effect of PP1 on MAPK signaling was examined. First, we found that inhibition of PP1 in COS-7 cells by TC specifically suppresses activation of ERK, among three MAPK kinases (ERK, JNK, and p38). TC-mediated inhibition of PP1 also suppressed activation of Raf-1, resulting in the inactivation of the MEK-ERK pathway. To examine the role of PP1 in regulation of Raf-1, we overexpressed the PP1 catalytic subunit (PP1C) in COS-7 cells and found that PP1C enhanced activation of Raf-1 activity, whereas phosphatase-dead PP1C blocked Raf-1 activation. Furthermore, a physical interaction between PP1C and Raf-1 was also observed. These data strongly suggest that PP1 positively regulates Raf-1 in vivo.     

Reconstitution of the Raf-1-MEK-ERK signal transduction pathway in vitro.

Raf-1 is a serine/threonine kinase which is essential in cell growth and differentiation. Tyrosine kinase oncogenes and receptors and p21ras can activate Raf-1, and recent studies have suggested that Raf-1 functions upstream of MEK (MAP/ERK kinase), which phosphorylates and activates ERK. To determine whether or not Raf-1 directly activates MEK, we developed an in vitro assay with purified recombinant proteins. Epitope-tagged versions of Raf-1 and MEK and kinase-inactive mutants of each protein were expressed in Sf9 cells, and ERK1 was purified as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein from bacteria. Raf-1 purified from Sf9 cells which had been coinfected with v-src or v-ras was able to phosphorylate kinase-active and kinase-inactive MEK. A kinase-inactive version of Raf-1 purified from cells that had been coinfected with v-src or v-ras was not able to phosphorylate MEK. Raf-1 phosphorylation of MEK activated it, as judged by its ability to stimulate the phosphorylation of myelin basic protein by glutathione S-transferase-ERK1. We conclude that MEK is a direct substrate of Raf-1 and that the activation of MEK by Raf-1 is due to phosphorylation by Raf-1, which is sufficient for MEK activation. We also tested the ability of protein kinase C to activate Raf-1 and found that, although protein kinase C phosphorylation of Raf-1 was able to stimulate its autokinase activity, it did not stimulate its ability to phosphorylate MEK.     

Regulation of Raf-1 and Raf-1 mutants by Ras-dependent and Ras-independent mechanisms in vitro.

The serine/threonine kinase Raf-1 functions downstream from Ras to activate mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, but the mechanisms of Raf-1 activation are incompletely understood. To dissect these mechanisms, wild-type and mutant Raf-1 proteins were studied in an in vitro system with purified plasma membranes from v-Ras- and v-Src-transformed cells (transformed membranes). Wild-type (His)6- and FLAG-Raf-1 were activated in a Ras- and ATP-dependent manner by transformed membranes; however, Raf-1 proteins that are kinase defective (K375M), that lack an in vivo site(s) of regulatory tyrosine (YY340/341FF) or constitutive serine (S621A) phosphorylation, that do not bind Ras (R89L), or that lack an intact zinc finger (CC165/168SS) were not. Raf-1 proteins lacking putative regulatory sites for an unidentified kinase (S259A) or protein kinase C (S499A) were activated but with apparently reduced efficiency. The kinase(s) responsible for activation by Ras or Src may reside in the plasma membrane, since GTP loading of plasma membranes from quiescent NIH 3T3 cells (parental membranes) induced de novo capacity to activate Raf-1. Wild-type Raf-1, possessing only basal activity, was not activated by parental membranes in the absence of GTP loading. In contrast, Raf-1 Y340D, possessing significant activity, was, surprisingly, stimulated by parental membranes in a Ras-independent manner. The results suggest that activation of Raf-1 by phosphorylation may be permissive for further modulation by another membrane factor, such as a lipid. A factor(s) extracted with methanol-chloroform from transformed membranes or membranes from Sf9 cells coexpressing Ras and SrcY527F significantly enhanced the activity of Raf-1 Y340D or active Raf-1 but not that of inactive Raf-1. Our findings suggest a model for activation of Raf-1, wherein (i) Raf-1 associates with Ras-GTP, (ii) Raf-1 is activated by tyrosine and/or serine phosphorylation, and (iii) Raf-1 activity is further increased by a membrane cofactor.     

Nicotine activates the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 via the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and protein kinase A, in SH-SY5Y cells and hippocampal neurones

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) can modulate many cellular mechanisms, such as cell survival and memory processing, which are also influenced by the serine/threonine protein kinases ERK1/2. In SH-SY5Y cells and hippocampal neurones, nicotine (100 microM) increased the activity of ERK1/2. This effect was Ca2+ dependent, and prevented by the alpha7 nAChR antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-Bgt) and an inhibitor (PD98059) of the upstream kinase MEK. To determine the intervening steps linking Ca2+ entry to MEK-ERK1/2 activation, inhibitors of Ca2+-dependent kinases were deployed. In SH-SY5Y cells, selective blockers for PKC (Ro 31-8220), CaM kinase II (KN-62) or PI3 kinase (LY 294002) failed to inhibit the nicotine-evoked increase in ERK1/2 activity. In contrast, two structurally different inhibitors of PKA (KT 5720 and H-89) completely prevented the nicotine-dependent increase in ERK1/2 activity. Inhibition of the nicotine-evoked increase in ERK1/2 activity by H-89 was also observed in hippocampal cultures. Down stream of PKA, the activity of B-Raf was significantly decreased by nicotine in SH-SY5Y cells, as determined by direct measurement of MEK1 phosphorylation or in vitro kinase assays, whereas the modulation of MEK1 phosphorylation by Raf-1 tended to increase. Thus, this study provides evidence for a novel signalling route coupling the stimulation of alpha7 nAChR to the activation of ERK1/2, in a Ca2+ and PKA dependent manner.     

Insulin stimulates ecdysteroid production through a conserved signaling cascade in the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Selective activators and inhibitors of insulin signaling cascades in mammalian cells were tested for their effects on insulin stimulated steroidogenesis by ovaries of Aedes aegypti. Bovine insulin in the concentration range of 1.7 microM to 85 microM stimulated ecdysteroidogenesis in vitro. Pervanadate, an inhibitor of tyrosine kinase phosphatase, stimulated ecdysteroid production at concentrations of 250 microM to 1 microM. Okidaic acid, a serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitor, stimulated steroidogenesis with an ED50 of 77.39 nM. A selective inhibitor of tyrosine kinase activity, HNMPA-(AM3), inhibited ecdysteroid production with an IC50 of 14.2 microM. Two selective inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, wortmannin and LY294002, inhibited ecdysteroid production at low concentrations (IC50 = 1.6 nM and 30 nM, respectively). These concentrations are similar to those inhibiting insulin action in mammalian cells. A selective inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase, PD098059, had no effect on ecdysteroid production even up to 100 microM. Thus, insulin stimulation of ecdysteroid production by ovaries in vitro appears to be controlled by the tyrosine kinase activity of the mosquito insulin receptor and the signaling cascade involving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and protein kinase B.