ABSTRACT
p21-activated kinase (PAK) has been shown to be an upstream mediator of JNK in angiotensin II (AngII) signaling. Little is known regarding other signaling molecules involved in activation of PAK and JNK by AngII. Rho family GTPases Rac and Cdc42 have been shown to enhance PAK activity by binding to p21-binding domain of PAK (PAK-PBD). In vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) AngII stimulated Rac1 binding to GST-PAK-PBD fusion protein. Pretreatment of VSMC by genistein inhibited AngII-induced Rac1 activation, whereas Src inhibitor PP1 had no effect. Inhibition of protein kinase C by phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate pretreatment also decreased AngII-mediated activation of Rac1. The adaptor molecule Nck has been shown previously to mediate PAK activation by facilitating translocation of PAK to the plasma membrane. In VSMC AngII stimulated translocation of Nck and PAK to the membrane fraction. Overexpression of dominant-negative Nck in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, stably expressing the AngII type I receptor (CHO-AT1), inhibited both PAK and JNK activation by AngII, whereas it did not affect ERK1/2. Finally, dominant-negative Nck inhibited AngII-induced DNA synthesis in CHO-AT1 cells. Our data provide evidence for Rac1 and Nck as upstream mediators of PAK and JNK in AngII signaling and implicate JNK in AngII-induced growth responses.
Subject(s)
Angiotensin II/pharmacology , Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism , Oncogene Proteins/metabolism , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , rac1 GTP-Binding Protein/metabolism , Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing , Animals , CHO Cells , Cells, Cultured , Cricetinae , Enzyme Activation , JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases , Male , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/cytology , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/drug effects , Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/metabolism , Phosphorylation , Protein Transport , Rats , Rats, Inbred WKY , Thymidine/metabolism , Tyrosine/metabolismABSTRACT
In this paper we demonstrate the presence of two novel in vivo autophosphorylation sites in the c-Kit/stem cell factor receptor (c-Kit/SCFR): Tyr-703 in the kinase insert and Tyr-936 in the C-terminal tail. We furthermore demonstrate that the adapter protein Grb2 is a specific binding partner for both phosphorylated Tyr-703 and phosphorylated Tyr-936, whereas the adapter protein Grb7 binds selectively to phosphorylated Tyr-936. It is shown that the association occurs through the Src homology 2 (SH2) domains of Grb2 and Grb7. Binding of Grb2 to Tyr-703 in the c-Kit/SCFR provides a link to the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.
Subject(s)
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing , Proteins/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit/metabolism , Tyrosine , Cells, Cultured , Endothelium, Vascular/cytology , GRB2 Adaptor Protein , GRB7 Adaptor Protein , Humans , Phosphorylation , Protein Binding , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit/genetics , Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/genetics , Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/metabolism , Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism , Stem Cell Factor , src Homology DomainsABSTRACT
As previous studies showed, PDGF-AA exerts a poor mitogenic effect on vascular smooth muscle cells. Simultaneous addition of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), itself also poorly mitogenic, led to a significant increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation into the cell DNA as well as a strong increase in cell number. To explain the synergistic effect of PDGF-AA and IGF-1 on VSMC proliferation, we describe the effects of the two growth factors on distinct intracellular signals: on the activation of the signal proteins mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) isoforms p42 and p44 and on the protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms alpha, delta, and epsilon, and on the induction of the transcription factor c-fos. PDGF-AA strongly activated the MAPK isoforms and PKC delta as well as the induction of c-fos. In contrast, IGF-1 exerted no effect on the signals induced by PDGF-AA, but strongly activated PKC epsilon isoform. Comparing this signal pattern to the one of the mitogenically potent PDGF isoform PDGF-BB, we found that PDGF-BB activated all of the signal proteins investigated.
