title: Growth factor induced MEK activation is primarily mediated by an activator different from c-raf.
abstract: Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) is a common event of many signal transduction pathways. MAPKs are phosphorylated and activated by an immediate upstream activating kinase, MEK. The proto-oncogene c-raf, encoding a serine/threonine kinase, has been reported to be a direct activator of MEK. In this paper, it is shown that growth factors activate MEK by stimulating c-raf and a raf-independent MEK activator. Treatment of Swiss3T3 cells with epidermal growth factor (EGF) rapidly increased the activity of MEK activator. Maximal activation was detected by 2.5 min and declined to the prestimulated level within 10 min. This stimulation of the MEK activator was temporally followed by increased activities of MEK and MAPK. The activation of MEK was accompanied by phosphorylation of this protein. To determine the relationship of this MEK activator and the c-raf kinase, cell lysates were immunoprecipitated with anti-raf antibody and assayed for MEK activation. Only a fraction (< 20%) of the MEK activating activity was detected in anti-raf immunoprecipitates from EGF-stimulated Swiss3T3 cells. Similar experiments with nerve growth factor stimulated pheochromocytoma 12 (PC-12) cells revealed that the raf kinase contributed less than 5% of the total MEK activating activity while the overwhelming majority of MEK activating activity remained in the postimmunoprecipitation supernatant in which the raf protein had been quantitatively depleted. These data demonstrate that Swiss3T3 and PC-12 cells contain at least two different growth factor sensitive MEK activators, one residing in anti-raf immunoprecipitates and a second activity that is separate from raf.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109.
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohmichi
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Saltiel
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Guan
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1; D051379:Mice; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1; C482127:Map2k1 protein, mouse; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases