Mechanisms of stem cell factor and erythropoietin proliferative co-signaling in FDC2-ER cells.

Studies of hematopoietic progenitor cell development in vivo, ex vivo, and in factor-dependent cell lines have shown that c-kit promotes proliferation through synergistic effects with at least certain type 1 cytokine receptors, including the erythropoietin (Epo) receptor. Presently, c-kit is shown to efficiently support both mitogenesis and survival in the FDCP1 cell subline, FDC2. In this system, mitogenic synergy with c-kit was observed for ectopically expressed wild-type Epo receptors (wt-ER), an epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor/Epo receptor chimera, and a highly truncated Epo receptor construct ER-Bx1. Thus, the Epo receptor cytoplasmic box 1 subdomain appears, at least in part, to mediate mitogenic synergy with c-kit. In studies of potential effectors of this response, Jak2 tyrosine phosphorylation was shown to be induced by Epo, but not by stem cell factor (SCF). In addition and in contrast to signaling in Mo7e and BM6 cell lines, in FDC2-ER cells SCF and Epo each were shown to rapidly activate Pim 1 gene expression. Recently, roles also have been suggested for the nuclear trans-factor GATA-1 in regulating progenitor cell proliferation. In FDC2-ER cells, the ectopic expression of GATA-1 had no detectable effect on Epo inhibition of apoptosis. However, GATA-1 expression did result in a selective and marked inhibition in mitogenic responsiveness to SCF and to a decrease in c-kit transcript expression. These studies of SCF and Epo signaling in FDC2-wt-ER cells serve to functionally map the ERB1 region as a c-kit-interactive domain, suggest that Pim1 might contribute to SCF and Epo mitogenic synergy and support the notion that SCF and Epo may act in opposing ways during red cell differentiation.

Platelet-derived growth factor induction of the immediate-early gene MCP-1 is mediated by NF-kappaB and a 90-kDa phosphoprotein coactivator.

A broad panel of agents including serum, interleukin-1, double-stranded RNA, and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) stimulate transcription of the "slow" immediate-early gene MCP-1. These disparate inducers act through a tight cluster of regulatory elements in the distal 5'-flanking sequences of the MCP-1 gene. We describe a 22-base element in this cluster which, in single copy, confers PDGF-inducibility to a tagged MCP-1 reporter gene. In mobility shift assays, the element binds a PDGF-activated form of NF-kappaB, and a 90-kDa protein (p90) which binds constitutively. Antibody supershift and UV cross-linking experiments indicate that the PDGF-activated NF-kappaB species is a Rel A homodimer. The DNA binding form of p90 is a nuclear-restricted serine/threonine phosphoprotein. Mutagenesis of the 22-base element shows that the NF-kappaB and p90 binding sites overlap, but binding of the two species is mutually independent. Both sites, however, are required for optimum PDGF induction of MCP-1. Therefore, p90 appears to be a coactivator with NF-kappaB in PDGF-mediated induction of MCP-1.