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RECEPTORS AND SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION
Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Submitted 17 February 2008 ; accepted in final form 17 March 2008
| ABSTRACT |
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purinergic; protein kinase A; cyclin D1
β-Catenin is a multifunctional protein that controls cell-cell adhesion and cell proliferation. In the latter function, β-catenin stimulates T-cell factor (TCF)/lymphoid enhancer factor transcription factors to induce transcription of a variety of growth-promoting genes, including c-myc (3) and cyclin D1 (29). In quiescent cells, β-catenin is maintained at low levels in the cytoplasm through phosphorylation by casein kinase-1 at Ser45 and by glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) at Ser33/Ser37/Thr41 sites, respectively (23), and its subsequent ubiquitination and degradation by the proteosome (2, 7). Inhibition of GSK-3 through Wnt signaling results in a decrease in phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37/Thr41 sites, its stabilization, and activation of TCF-dependent gene transcription (30). Mutations of β-catenin or of its regulatory proteins, resulting in the accumulation of β-catenin and the activation of TCF-dependent gene transcription, are frequently found in various types of cancers (5, 21). β-Catenin signaling is also implicated in VSMC proliferation in vitro and in vivo during vascular injury (22, 25).
We have recently discovered that PKA can phosphorylate β-catenin at Ser552 and Ser675 sites, and this phosphorylation by PKA promotes transcriptional activity of β-catenin in overexpression cell models (28). In the present study, we sought to examine whether ATP, through PKA, can stimulate phosphorylation of endogenous β-catenin at Ser552 and Ser675 sites and how this translates to ATP-induced proliferation of VSMC.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Reagents. The cDNA for Flag-tagged β-catenin and its mutants were described previously (28). The cyclin D1 promoter (–1,745 base pairs) luciferase reporter was from Dr. Richard Pestell. The TCF/lymphoid enhancer factor luciferase reporter (TOP) and its negative control (FOP) plasmids were from Upstate Biotechnology. The dominant negative PKA plasmid (dnPKA) was described previously (8). The dominant negative TCF-4 plasmid (dnTCF-4) was from Dr. Tong-Chuan He. Adenovirus encoding protein kinase inhibitor PKI (Ad-PKI) was described previously (19). Adenovirus encoding the dominant negative TCF-4 mutant was from Vector Biolabs. Antibodies against β-catenin, phospho-S552-β-catenin, and phospho-S675-β-catenin were from Cell Signaling Technology. Antibodies against Flag and β-actin were from Sigma-Aldrich. Antibodies against Flag and β-actin were from Sigma Aldrich. antibodies against TCF-4 and cyclin D1 were from Santa Cruz Biotechnology. Antibodies against ERK1/2 were from Dr. Michael Dunn.
Immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis. Cells were lysed in a buffer containing 150 mM NaCl, 20 mM TRIS (pH 7.5), 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM EGTA, 0.5% Triton X-100, protease inhibitors (1 mg/ml leupeptin, 1 mg/ml aprotinin, and 1 mM PMSF), and phosphatase inhibitors (1 mM NaF, 200 mM Na-orthovanadate). The lysates were cleared by centrifugation at 14,000 g for 10 min. Immunoprecipitation of Flag-tagged β-catenin proteins was performed using agarose-conjugated mouse anti-Flag antibodies (Sigma-Aldrich). The immunoprecipitation of endogenous β-catenin was performed using agarose-conjugated goat anti-β-catenin antibodies (Santa Cruz Biotechnology). Immunoprecipitation of TCF-4 was performed by incubating cleared cell lysates with 10 µg/ml rabbit polyclonal TCF-4 antibodies (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) at 4°C overnight, followed by incubation with protein A/protein G-conjugated agarose beads. The immune complexes were washed three times with 1 ml lysis buffer, boiled in Laemmli buffer, and subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting with the desired primary antibodies, followed by horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies, and developed by enhanced chemiluminescence reaction (Pierce). The digital chemiluminescence images were taken by a Luminescent Image Analyzer LAS-3000 (Fujifilm).
Nonradioactive in vitro assay for PKA activity. Following stimulation with desired agonists, the cells (grown in 12-well plates) were lysed in 0.1 ml/well lysis buffer containing 25 mM HEPES (pH 7.5), 0.5% NP-40, protease inhibitors (1 mg/ml leupeptin, 1 mg/ml aprotinin, and 1 mM PMSF), and phosphatase inhibitors (1 mM NaF, 200 mM Na-orthovanadate) (19). The lysates were cleared from insoluble material by centrifugation at 20,000 g for 10 min, and 5 µl cleared lysates were subjected to a kinase reaction with the fluorescence-labeled PKA substrate kemptide (Promega) following the manufacturer's protocol. The reaction was stopped by boiling the samples for 10 min. The phosphorylated kemptide was separated from the nonphosphorylated one by 0.8% agarose electrophoresis. The fluorescent images were taken by Luminescent Image Analyzer LAS-3000.
Luciferase reporter assay. Cells were transfected with desired luciferase reporter plasmid, thymidine kinase (TK)-driven renilla plasmid (transfection efficiency control), and cDNA encoding a gene of interest or an empty plasmid, serum starved overnight, followed by stimulation with 30 µM ATP for 12 h. The cells were washed twice with PBS, lysed in protein extraction reagent, and assayed for luciferase and renilla activity using the corresponding assay kits (Promega, Madison, WI). To account for differences in transfection efficiency, luciferase activity of each sample was normalized to renilla activity.
The [3H]thymidine uptake assay was performed as described previously (19). Serum-starved VSMC were stimulated with 30 µM ATP for 24 h. [3H]thymidine (1 µCi/ml) was added 6 h after cell stimulation for 18 h. The cells were then washed twice with ice-cold PBS, precipitated with 10% trichloroacetic acid (TCA) for 30 min, washed once with 5% TCA, and lysed in a solution containing 0.1% NaOH and 0.1% SDS for 15 min. The lysates were analyzed for radioactivity by scintillation spectrometry.
| RESULTS |
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| DISCUSSION |
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It is accepted that the activity of β-catenin is controlled at the level of its stability through regulated proteolysis. As such, phosphorylation of β-catenin by GSK-3 at Ser33, Ser37, and Thr41 targets it for proteasomal degradation; whereas inhibition of GSK-3 through Wnt signaling results in accumulation of unphosphorylated β-catenin (7). Previous studies by others and us showed that GSK-3 activity can be inhibited through its phosphorylation by Akt (17) or by PKA (1, 13, 28). In our additional experiments, ATP stimulated a PKA-dependent phosphorylation of GSK-3
in VSMC (data not shown). However, this did not lead to accumulation of β-catenin, the levels of which were already easily detected in quiescent VSMC cells (Fig. 2D). Instead, we show for the first time that endogenous β-catenin can be directly activated (Fig. 3A) through its phosphorylation by PKA at Ser552 and Ser675 sites (Fig. 2). This represents an additional new mode of β-catenin regulation that was previously not appreciated. Furthermore, we provide a molecular mechanism for PKA-dependent activation of β-catenin by showing for the first time that phosphorylation of β-catenin by PKA promotes its association with TCF-4 in response to ATP (Fig. 3B).
β-Catenin and TCF-4 stimulate transcription of many genes implicated in cell cycle progression, including cyclin D1, c-myc, c-jun, and others (3, 11, 27, 29). In the present study, we show that cyclin D1 promoter activation and protein expression in response to ATP are dependent on both PKA and TCF-4 activities in VSMC (Figs. 4 and 5). It is noteworthy that cyclin D1 promoter also contains CREs known to be activated by PKA (18). However, even though ATP stimulated activation of artificial CRE reporter (Fig. 4C), the ATP-induced cyclin D1 promoter activation was not dependent on CRE, because mutation of CRE in cyclin D1 promoter did not affect its activation by ATP (data not shown). Thus we believe that in ATP responses, PKA activates cyclin D1 promoter not through CRE, but through β-catenin/TCF-4 axis.
Finally, we show for the first time that ATP-induced proliferation of VSMC is dependent on the activity of TCF-4 (Fig. 6). Proliferation of VSMC induced by other growth stimuli, such as serum, β-cellulin (epidermal growth factor receptor ligand), or platelet-derived growth factor, is also dependent on β-catenin/TCF-4 activity (22, 26, 32). In these cases, TCF-4 stimulation likely occurs through activation of Akt, inhibition of GSK-3, and stabilization of unphosphorylated (at GSK-3 sites) β-catenin (26). As discussed above, ATP stimulated TCF-4 through a different mechanism, i.e., through a direct phosphorylation of β-catenin by PKA (at sites distinct from those that are phosphorylated by GSK-3), resulting in increased association of β-catenin with TCF-4.
Regarding PKA, its role in cell proliferation depends on the cell type as well as on the stimulus. In VSMC, stimulation of PKA through β-adrenergic signaling inhibits proliferation, whereas PKA activation through purinergic or endothelin signaling promotes VSMC proliferation and hypertrophy, respectively (19, 28, 31). This agonist-specific role of PKA can be explained at least in part by 1) differential duration of PKA activation by these agonists [sustained PKA activation through β-adrenergic stimulation vs. transient PKA activation through purinergic or endothelin stimulation (8)]; and 2) inability of β-adrenergic stimuli to induce mitogenic signaling (MAP kinase, etc.), which is activated by purinergic or endothelin stimulation (19, 24). The transient nature of PKA activation by ATP is likely due to 1) relatively small cAMP increase in response to ATP compared with β-adrenergic stimulation; and 2) simultaneous activation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterases by ATP, but not by β-adrenergic stimulation (data not shown). Thus we favor a notion that transient PKA activation works together with the established mitogenic signaling to promote VSMC proliferation in response to ATP. The present study describes one potential mechanism by which PKA may contribute to ATP-induced proliferation of VSMC through phosphorylation of β-catenin and activation of TCF-dependent gene transcription.
| GRANTS |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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