Heparin suppresses lipid raft-mediated signaling and ligand-independent EGF receptor activation.
Heparin is well known to suppress vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation, and attempts to exploit this therapeutically have led to recognition of multiple pathways for heparin's anti-mitogenic actions. At low concentrations (ca. 1 microg.ml(-1)), these suppressive effects may reflect physiological activities of endogenous heparan sulfates, and appear to be rapid responses to extracellular or cell surface-associated heparin. Because heparin has been shown to influence expression of caveolin proteins, and caveolae/lipid rafts are critical structures modulating cell signaling, we examined the effect of heparin on signaling involving cholesterol-rich membrane microdomains. The VSMC line PAC-1 activates the MAP kinase Erk in response to the cholesterol-sequestering agents methyl-beta-cyclodextrin and nystatin. This follows a temporal sequence that involves Ras-GTP activation of MEK, and is independent of PKC, Src, and PI3 kinase. However, ligand-independent phosphorylation of the EGF receptor (EGFR) by removal of cholesterol precedes Ras activation, and the EGFR kinase inhibitor AG1478 blocks Erk phosphorylation, supporting occurrence of the signaling sequence EGFR-Ras-MEK-Erk. Phosphorylation of EGFR occurs predominantly in caveolin-rich microdomains as identified by Western blotting of fractions from density gradient centrifugation of membranes prepared under detergent-free conditions. In these situations, heparin inhibits phosphorylation of EGFR on the Src-dependent site Tyr(845), but not the autophosphorylation of Tyr(1173), and decreases Ras activation and Erk phosphorylation. We conclude that heparin can suppress Erk signaling in VSMC with effects on site-specific phosphorylation of EGFR localized in caveolin-enriched lipid rafts.
Liu
Yuan-Tao
YT
Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Song
Lifang
L
Templeton
Douglas M
DM
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D006493:Heparin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008024:Ligands; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000187:drug effects*; D009761:Nystatin / Q000494:pharmacology; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D047392:beta-Cyclodextrins / Q000494:pharmacology
D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D008024:Ligands; D047392:beta-Cyclodextrins; C108732:methyl-beta-cyclodextrin; D009761:Nystatin; D006493:Heparin; D002784:Cholesterol; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)