title: Ecdysone-inducible expression of oncogenic Ha-Ras in NIH 3T3 cells leads to transient nuclear localization of activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase regulated by mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1.
abstract: The Ras family of GTP-binding proteins are key transducers of extracellular signals, particularly through the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Constitutively active forms of Ras are found in a variety of tumours, suggesting an important role for this pathway in cancer. Here we report that initial cellular exposure to oncogenic Ras chronically activated the MAPK pathway in the cytoplasm, but transiently activated the same pathway in the nucleus. Nuclear-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) was rapidly dephosphorylated, with consequent short-term activation of the Elk-1 transcription factor and expression of the c-fos gene. Additional experiments suggested that the regulatory mechanism involved requires the calcium-dependent protein phosphotyrosine phosphatase MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1). This is the first report on the ability of Ras, in the absence of growth factors, to transiently activate the MAPK pathway in the nucleus and show an involvement of MKP-1 in nuclear ERK2 regulation. In addition we show that transient activation of the MAPK pathway is sufficient to drive chronic cell-cycle progression. We conclude that, whereas the MAPK pathway is necessary to initiate cellular proliferation and transformation, the transient nature of the MAPK pathway activation suggests the involvement of additional signalling pathway(s) regulated by Ras.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biological Research and Biotechnology, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 116 35 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Plows
authors.forename: Paraskevi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Briassouli
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: Vassilis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zoumpourlis
authors.forename: Michelle D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Garrett
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pintzas
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002455:Cell Division; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D054638:Dual Specificity Phosphatase 1; D004440:Ecdysone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004533:Egtazic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D011905:Genes, ras; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D019319:Okadaic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; D010766:Phosphorylation; D054645:Protein Phosphatase 1; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014638:Vanadates / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D019319:Okadaic Acid; D004440:Ecdysone; D014638:Vanadates; D004533:Egtazic Acid; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; D054645:Protein Phosphatase 1; D054638:Dual Specificity Phosphatase 1; C517020:Dusp1 protein, mouse; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases; C025603:1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid