title: Suppressive effect of taurine on platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) BB-induced c-fos and c-jun mRNA expressions through extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in mesenchymal cell lines.
abstract: Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) plays an important role in the pathogenic course of atherosclerosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and glomerulonephritis, and increased activity of the PDGF signaling pathway has been implicated as a contributing factor in the progression of the diseases. Taurine may be a prophylactic amino acid for atherosclerosis not only by decreasing plasma cholesterol level, but also by inhibiting the cell proliferation-signaling pathway. To elucidate how taurine affects the signaling pathway, we investigated the effect of taurine on the expression of immediate-early genes and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in NIH/3T3 cells as standard mesenchymal cells. Taurine inhibited PDGF-BB-induced c-fos and c-jun mRNA expressions dose-dependently, although structural analogues of taurine did not. Taurine decreased the PDGF-induced p44/p42 ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) phosphorylation state dose-dependently, although no phosphorylation was observed on JNK/SAPK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase) and p38 MAPK. Further, PDGF-BB-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the PDGF-beta receptor was not influenced by treatment with taurine, indicating that taurine never affects ligand-receptor interaction, and may act downstream of the PDGF receptor. Thus, the inhibitory mechanism of taurine on PDGF-induced c-fos and c-jun mRNA expressions may depend on the p44/p42 ERK pathway, but not on PDGF-beta receptor tyrosine phosphorylation, JNK/SAPK or p38 MAPK pathway. These results suggest that taurine may suppress the cell proliferation-signaling pathway through the inhibition of ERK activity and immediate-early gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Shimane Medical University, Izumo 693-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Terashima
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mitani
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hosokawa
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nariai
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imada
authors.forename: Emiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kageyama
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanigawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000077214:Becaplermin; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020574:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-sis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D013654:Taurine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun; D020574:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-sis; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000077214:Becaplermin; D013654:Taurine; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases