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-Induced ERK1/2 Activation in Kaposis Sarcoma Cells1

*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095; and
Institute of Molecular Medicine, Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, CA 91105
| Abstract |
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is a key pathogenic mediator of infectious and inflammatory
diseases. HIV infection stimulates and dysregulates the immune system,
leading to abnormal production of TNF-
. Despite its cytotoxic effect
on some tumor cell lines, TNF-
functions as a growth stimulator for
Kaposis sarcoma (KS), a common malignancy in HIV-infected patients.
However, signaling pathways linked to TNF-
-induced mitogenic
responses are not well understood. We found that extracellular
signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) in KS cells were
significantly activated by TNF-
through tyrosine/threonine
phosphorylation. Using neutralizing anti-TNFR-I and TNFR-II mAbs,
we have now obtained evidence that TNF-
-induced KS cell growth and
ERK1/2 activation are mediated exclusively by TNFR-I, not by TNFR-II. A
selective inhibitor for ERK1/2 activator kinases, PD98059, profoundly
inhibited not only the activation of ERK1/2, but also the
TNF-
-induced KS cell proliferation. We therefore propose that the
TNFR-I-ERK1/2 pathway plays a pivotal role in transmitting to KS cells
the mitogenic signals of TNF-
. TNFR-I possesses no intrinsic kinase
activity, suggesting that TNFR-I-associated proteins may provide a link
between TNFR-I and ERK1/2 activation. We found that actinomycin D
treatment of KS cells selectively abolished expression of
mitogen-activated protein kinase-activating death domain protein
(MADD), a novel TNFR-I-associated death domain protein. TNF-
failed
to induce ERK1/2 activation in the actinomycin D-treated cells. MADD
may couple TNFR-I with the ERK1/2 signaling pathway required for KS
cell proliferation. | Introduction |
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TNF-
, a pleiotropic inflammatory cytokine produced mainly by
activated macrophages and monocytes, is now recognized as a key
pathogenic mediator of infectious and inflammatory diseases, including
sepsis syndrome, autoimmune diseases, and AIDS 19 . There is
considerable evidence that HIV infection stimulates and dysregulates
the immune system, leading to perturbed production of TNF-
in
patients 20, 21 . Serum TNF-
levels are initially increased
following HIV infection and further augmented by opportunistic
infections that arise during the later stage of AIDS 22 . In addition,
KS lesions contain increased levels of TNF-
23 , and exacerbation
of KS has been noted during times of opportunistic infections 7 and
after administration of TNF-
to patients with KS 24 . Thus, TNF-
has been implicated in the pathogenesis of KS. Contrary to the original
concept that TNF-
exhibits only antitumor activities, this cytokine
functions as a mitogen for KS cells in culture 13, 16, 25 . However,
information on TNF-
-induced signaling events required to initiate a
proliferative response is lacking.
The TNF ligand-receptor system is quite unique in that one ligand is
able to interact with two cell surface receptors containing very
different intracellular domains: one with a molecular mass of 55 kDa
(termed TNFR-I) and another of 75 kDa (termed TNFR-II) 26, 27 . The
significance of existence of two separate types of TNFRs has heretofore
remained unclear. The earliest event occurring in many cells after
TNF-
stimulation is rapid phosphorylation and activation of various
cellular protein kinases 19 . Considering a highly pleiotropic nature
of TNF-
, it is conceivable that different intracellular signaling
pathways play specific biological roles in TNF-
-mediated cellular
responses. Mitogen-activated protein kinases, p44 MAPK and p42 MAPK
(also termed extracellular signal-regulated kinases, ERK1 and ERK2,
respectively), have been reported to play pivotal roles in transmitting
and integrating extracellular signals required for regulation of cell
proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis 28 . Despite several
reports 29, 30, 31, 32 that TNF-
can activate ERK1/2 activity, little
attention has been given to its significance in TNF-
-induced
proliferative events. The cytoplasmic domains of TNFRs lack intrinsic
kinase activities 26, 27 , suggesting that TNFR-associated proteins
may be important for the activation of downstream kinase cascades.
Several TNFR-associated proteins have been characterized as transducers
of death signal in TNF-
-mediated cytotoxicity 33, 34 ; however, it
has remained unclear how TNFRs transduce mitogenic signals to
downstream mediator kinases.
We found that ERK1/2 in KS cells were significantly activated by
TNF-
. Using neutralizing TNFR-I- and TNFR-II-specific mAbs, we
determined which type of TNFRs mediates TNF-
-induced KS cell growth
and ERK1/2 activation. To evaluate the commitment of ERK1/2 signaling
pathway in the mitogenic action of TNF-
for KS cells, we used
PD98059, a selective inhibitor of the ERK1/2 activator kinases. We
propose that TNF-
elicits the mitogenic responses of KS cells
through the TNFR-I-ERK1/2 signaling pathway. In addition, we searched
for a possible role of MADD, a novel TNFR-I-associated protein 35 , to
bridge a molecular gap between the activation of TNFR-I and the
triggering of ERK1/2 pathway in KS cells.
| Materials and Methods |
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AIDS-KS cells were developed from pleural effusion of lung KS
(KS22 and KS23), lung KS (KS3), oral mucosa KS (KS10B), and skin KS
(KS14), all from different HIV-1-infected patients. KS22 and KS23 cells
were established in the Institute of Molecular Medicine, Huntington
Memorial Hospital (Pasadena, CA) 36 , and KS3, KS14, and KS10B cells
were developed in the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, National Cancer
Institute, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD) 13 . These KS
cells were maintained in RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg,
MD), supplemented with 10% FBS (Gemini Bio-Products, Calabasas, CA)
and conditioned medium from human oncostatin M (OM)-expressing Chinese
hamster ovary cells, to a final OM concentration of 10 ng/ml.
OM-expressing Chinese hamster ovary cells were established earlier
36 . Human recombinant TNF-
, IL-1ß, and OM, and neutralizing
mouse anti-human soluble TNFR-I and TNFR-II mAbs were purchased
from R&D Systems (Minneapolis, MN). Neutralizing mouse anti-human
TNF-
mAb and mouse control IgG were also purchased by R&D Systems.
PD98059 and actinomycin D (Act D) were purchased from
Calbiochem-Novabiochem (La Jolla, CA) and Sigma (St. Louis, MO),
respectively.
AIDS-KS cell growth assays
AIDS-KS cells were incubated in triplicate in 24-well plates
(0.5 ml/well) in KS basal medium (RPMI 1640, 10% FBS), with or without
various test factors, at an initial cell density of 3 x
103 cells/well. To determine the effect of PD98059, KS
cells were preincubated with this reagent for 30 min before addition of
TNF-
. Culture medium was changed every 3 days, and cells were
counted on the sixth day of culture, using a Coulter particle counter
(Coulter Electronics, Hialeah, FL). Data are expressed as the mean
± SD of triplicate determinations from three separate experiments. The
criterion that cell death should be less than 1% was met by all growth
assays included in this study, even in the presence of PD 98059.
RNA preparation and PCR amplification
Total RNA was prepared by guanidine isothiocyanate disruption of cells and centrifugation through 1.51 g/ml cesium trifluoroacetate (CsTFA; Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). Two micrograms of total RNA prepared from four AIDS-KS cell isolates were subjected to cDNA synthesis by incubation for 1 h at 42°C with reverse transcriptase and random hexanucleotides (Life Technologies), followed by TNFR-I-, TNFR-II-, and MADD-specific PCR amplifications, respectively. The primers used were: 5'-TACCAACGGTGGAAGTCCAAGCT-3' and 5'-GATCTCGCAGGACGGTCCTTAGA-3' (for TNFR-I); 5'-CAGCCAGTGTCCACACGATC-3' and 5'-TTAACTGGGCTTCATCCCAGC-3' (for TNFR-II); and 5'-AAGGTGAGGCGCCTAATGGG-3' and 5'-CATCAGCTAGAGACAGGCCG-3' (for MADD). RNA integrity and the efficiency of cDNA synthesis were confirmed by PCR amplification, using a human ß-actin-specific primer (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA). PCR amplification was done under the following condition: 35 cycles at 94°C for 1 min, at 58°C for 2 min, and at 72°C for 3 min; 1 cycle at 94°C for 1 min, at 58°C for 2 min, and at 72°C for 10 min. The amplification products were electrophoresed on 1.5% agarose gels.
Cytokine stimulation of AIDS-KS cells for in vitro kinase assays and Western blotting analysis
ERK1/2 is weakly phosphorylated in AIDS-KS cells grown in the KS
basal medium. To reduce this basal level of phosphorylation, KS cells
(2 x 106 cells) in a 75-cm2 culture flask
were deprived of serum for 3 days in serum-free medium (RPMI 1640,
0.4% BSA). These cells were then pretreated for 10 min with 1 mM
Na3VO4 and stimulated with 50 ng/ml of TNF-
,
IL-1ß, or OM for various periods at 37°C. To examine effects of
blocking of TNFR-I- or TNFR-II-mediated signals, KS cells were
pretreated with 10 µg/ml neutralizing anti-human soluble TNFR-I
or TNFR-II mAb for 1 h before TNF-
stimulation. To inhibit the
ERK1/2 activity, KS cells were preincubated with the indicated
concentrations of PD98059 for 30 min before TNF-
stimulation. To
examine effects of Act D, KS cells were treated with Act D (10 ng/ml)
for 18 h before cytokine stimulation. These cells were lysed at
4°C in 1 ml of lysis buffer for kinase assays (50 mM HEPES (pH 7),
0.1% Nonidet P-40, 250 mM NaCl, 2 mM EGTA, 1 mM PMSF, 1 µg/ml
aprotinin, 1 µg/ml leupeptin, 1 µg/ml pepstatin, 1 mM
Na3VO4, and 1 mM NaF).
In vitro kinase assays
The cell lysates (200 µg of proteins in 200 µl) were
precleared by incubation for 1 h at 4°C with 1 µg of rabbit
IgG together with 20 µl of 50% suspension of protein A/G agarose
beads (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA). The lysates were
incubated overnight at 4°C with rabbit anti-human ERK1/2
polyclonal Ab (1 µg; Santa Cruz Biotechnology). The immune complexes
were then isolated by incubation with 20 µl of 50% suspension of
protein A/G agarose for an additional 1 h at 4°C. After washing
four times with the lysis buffer and twice with kinase buffer (50 mM
Tris-HCl (pH 7.4), 10 mM MgCl2, 1 mM DTT, 1 mM
Na3VO4, and 1 mM NaF), the immunoprecipitates
were incubated for 30 min at 30°C in 25 µl of the kinase buffer, in
the presence of 2 µg of GST-Elk-1 fusion protein containing the
carboxyl-terminal domain of Elk-1 (New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA) as
a substrate for ERK1/2, 5 µCi of [
-32P]ATP (6000
Ci/mmol; Andotek Life Sciences, Irvine, CA), and 50 µM cold ATP.
Reaction was terminated by addition of 2x SDS sample buffer. The
samples were boiled for 5 min and analyzed by 12% SDS-PAGE (Novex, San
Diego, CA) and autoradiography.
Western blotting analysis
Cell lysates (20 µg) were boiled for 5 min and subjected to 12% SDS-PAGE (Novex) and Western blotting analysis. Transfer of proteins from gels onto Hybond nitrocellulose membranes (Amersham, Arlington Heights, IL) was electrophoretically conducted in a transblotting cell (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). Membranes were blocked by immersing for 1 h at room temperature in 5% nonfat skim milk/PBS, then the membranes were incubated with rabbit anti-ERK1/2 or anti-phospho-specific ERK1/2 polyclonal Ab (2 µg/ml; New England Biolabs), goat anti-TRADD (0.5 µg/ml; Santa Cruz Biotechnology), rabbit anti-MEK1/2 polyclonal Ab (0.5 µg/ml; Santa Cruz Biotechnology), mouse anti-FADD or anti-RIP mAb (1 µg/ml; Transduction Laboratories, Lexington, KY), or rabbit anti-TRAF2 polyclonal Ab (0.5 µg/ml; Medical Biological Laboratories, Nagoya, Japan) for 2 h at room temperature. The anti-phospho-specific ERK1/2 Ab detects ERK1/2 only when activated by phosphorylation at threonine 202 and tyrosine 204 residues, and the anti-ERK 1/2 Ab detects total ERK1/2 proteins (phosphorylation state-independent levels). After washing in PBS/0.1% Tween-20, membranes were incubated with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit or anti-mouse IgG secondary Ab (New England Biolabs), or anti-goat IgG secondary Ab (Sigma), and then developed using a Phototope-horseradish peroxidase Western blot detection kit (New England Biolabs).
| Results |
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on AIDS-KS cells
To confirm the growth-stimulating effect of TNF-
on KS cells,
we conducted growth assays on three different isolates of KS cells
(KS3, KS10B, and KS22), in the presence or the absence of increased
concentrations of TNF-
(Fig. 1
). In
the absence of TNF-
, KS cells showed only minimum levels of growth
on the sixth day of culture. When increased concentrations of TNF-
were added to the KS cell cultures, these cells proliferated in a
dose-dependent manner. Maximum growth levels, which were obtained with
5 ng/ml of TNF-
, were 3- to 3.5-fold higher than the basal growth
levels observed with medium alone. Thus, TNF-
functions as a mitogen
for KS cells.
|
-induced proliferation of
AIDS-KS cells
The biological effects of TNF-
are transmitted via two distinct
membrane receptors, TNFR-I and TNFR-II 26, 27 . Using total RNA
prepared from four isolates of KS cells (KS3, KS10B, KS14, and KS22),
the expression of specific mRNA for TNFR-I and TNFR-II was demonstrated
by the appearance of RT-PCR amplification products. As shown in Fig. 2
A, considerable amounts of
PCR products specific for TNFR-I and TNFR-II were observed with all
three KS isolates.
|
-induced stimulation of KS cell growth, increased amounts of
neutralizing mAbs specific for TNFR-I and TNFR-II were added to KS cell
cultures (KS3, KS10B, and KS22), in the presence of 5 ng/ml of TNF-
.
As shown in Fig. 2
-induced growth, in a dose-dependent fashion, and
complete inhibition was obtained with 10 µg/ml of anti-TNFR-I
mAb. In contrast, effects of anti-TNFR-II mAb were hardly
detectable. Thus, the mitogenic effects of TNF-
on KS cells
apparently occur through TNFR-I-mediated signaling events, while the
role of TNFR-II on KS cell proliferation, if any, seems minimal.
Tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation and activation of ERK1/2 by
TNF-
treatment of AIDS-KS cells
It has been reported that TNF-
can induce activation of ERK1/2
29, 30, 31, 32 . This activation apparently occurs through dual
phosphorylation of tyrosine and threonine residues 37 . To determine
the activation state of ERK1/2 in TNF-
-treated KS cells, we examined
the tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and its kinase
activity. Following serum deprivation for 3 days, these cells were
incubated with 50 ng/ml of TNF-
for the indicated periods, then
subjected to immunoprecipitation for ERK1/2. In vitro kinase assays for
ERK1/2 were done using its physiologic substrate Elk-1 38 . To detect
tyrosine/threonine-phosphorylated ERK1/2 proteins, Western blotting of
these immune complexes was done using an anti-phospho-ERK1/2 Ab. As
shown in Fig. 3
, only little amounts of
kinase activities of immunoprecipitated ERK1/2 were observed in
quiescent KS cells. Tyrosine/threonine-phosphorylated bands of ERK1/2
were hardly detected in these cells. High levels of kinase activities
were induced within 10 min after TNF-
stimulation and continued for
at least 120 min. In parallel, TNF-
stimulation induced a large
accumulation of tyrosine/threonine-phosphorylated ERK1/2 in the KS
cells. Using an anti-ERK1/2 Ab, we confirmed that similar levels of
ERK1/2 proteins were seen in all lanes of the time course tested. Taken
together, it seems evident that TNF-
has the potential to activate
ERK1/2 in KS cells.
|
To determine which type of TNFRs mediates ERK1/2 activation in KS
cells, we examined the effects of neutralizing anti-TNFR-I- and
anti-TNFR-II-specific mAbs on the TNF-
-induced activation of
ERK1/2 in KS cells, using in vitro kinase assays and tyrosine/threonine
phosphorylation assays (Fig. 4
). By serum
starvation for 3 days before TNF-
stimulation, ERK1/2 was maintained
in a quiescent state. When KS cells were stimulated with 50 ng/ml of
TNF-
for 30 min, ERK1/2 activities were drastically induced, and
large amounts of tyrosine/threonine-phosphorylated ERK1/2 proteins were
detected on immunoblots. This activation was not observed in
anti-TNFR-I mAb-treated KS cells, thereby indicating that the
TNF-
-induced activation of ERK1/2 is initiated by TNFR-I. Blocking
the TNFR-II pathway by a specific Ab had little or no effects on the
tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation and kinase activity of ERK1/2.
|
-induced proliferation of AIDS-KS cells by
PD98059, a selective inhibitor of the MEK1/2-ERK1/2 pathway
Several lines of evidence show that the ERK1/2 activator kinases
are MEK1/2 that locate upstream in the ERK1/2 signaling pathway 39, 40 . To obtain direct evidence that the MEK1/2-ERK1/2 pathway has a
crucial role in KS cell growth, a selective inhibitor of MEK1/2,
PD98059 41 , was used in the growth assays (Fig. 5
A). Treatment with TNF-
(10 ng/ml) generated high levels of KS cell growth. When KS cells were
preincubated with PD98059 for 30 min before TNF-
stimulation, this
inhibitor abrogated the TNF-
-induced proliferation, in a
dose-dependent manner, with an apparent IC50 of about 10
µM. Trypan blue dye exclusion showed that cell viability in all
growth assays exceeded 95%. The growth-inhibitory activity of PD98059
was reversible, because removal of this inhibitor led to a resumed
proliferation in response to TNF-
(data not shown). To confirm that
the pretreatment with PD98059 blocks the activation of the
MEK1/2-ERK1/2 pathway in KS cells, the phosphorylation state of ERK1/2
was determined using Western blotting for
tyrosine/threonine-phosphorylated ERK1/2 (Fig. 5
B).
Following stimulation with TNF-
for 30 min, significant levels of
tyrosine/threonine-phosphorylated ERK1/2 accumulated in KS cells.
Pretreatment of the KS cells with PD98059 dose dependently suppressed
this phosphorylation. Thus, cellular activity of the MEK1/2-ERK1/2
pathway is required for the TNF-
-induced growth of KS cells.
|
As shown above, the mitogenic activity of TNF-
is
mediated through the TNFR-I-MEK1/2-ERK1/2 signaling pathway in KS
cells. Since the intracellular regions of TNFR-I lack intrinsic kinase
activities 26, 27 , TNFR-I-associated proteins may be important for
activation of the downstream MEK1/2-ERK1/2 cascade. Schievella et al.
isolated a protein called MADD, which associates with a cytoplasmic
region of TNFR-I termed death domain; they reported that overexpression
of this protein in COS cells induced activation of ERK2 proteins 35 .
RT-PCR amplification, using total RNA of four different isolates of KS
cells (KS3, KS10B, KS22, and KS23), revealed considerable amounts of
expression of MADD mRNA (Fig. 6
A). In addition, we noted
that treatment with 10 ng/ml of Act D led to a complete inhibition of
MADD expression in all isolates of KS cells tested. In contrast, Act D
treatment did not affect expressions of TNFR-I and TNFR-II. TRADD, a
member of the death domain protein family, also interacts directly with
TNFR-I through the death domain 42 . Western blotting of cell lysates
prepared from KS3 and KS10B showed that the protein levels of TRADD
were not affected by Act D treatment (Fig. 6
B). TRADD is
believed to act as an adapter molecule that recruits three
signal-transducing molecules, TRAF2, RIP, and FADD, to TNFR-I, thereby
resulting in formation of TNFR-I signaling complexes 33, 34, 43, 44 .
As shown in Fig. 6
B, Act D had no effect on expression of
these proteins in KS cells. In addition, expressions of MEK1/2 and
ERK1/2 proteins were not affected by Act D treatment of KS cells. This
concentration of Act D had no cytotoxic effects on KS cells used in
this study 45 .
|
-induced activation of ERK1/2 in
AIDS-KS cells
As shown in Fig. 6
, Act D induced the selective inhibition of MADD
expression in KS cells, a finding that prompted us to explore a
possible role of MADD in the TNFR-I-ERK1/2 signaling pathway required
for mitogenic responses. We examined the effect of Act D on
TNF-
-induced activation of ERK1/2 in KS cells, using in vitro kinase
assays for ERK1/2 and tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation assays (Fig. 7
A). Following serum
starvation for 2 days, KS cells were treated with 10 ng/ml of Act D for
18 h, then stimulated with 50 ng/ml of TNF-
. High levels of
ERK1/2 kinase activities were induced within 10 min after the
stimulation and lasted for at least 120 min. In parallel, TNF-
treatment induced a large accumulation of
tyrosine/threonine-phosphorylated ERK1/2 in the KS cells. This
activation was not observed in Act D-treated KS cells, in which MADD
expression was selectively suppressed. These observations suggest that
MADD plays a crucial role in the TNFR-I-ERK1/2 signaling pathway in KS
cells. Using the anti-ERK1/2 Ab, we confirmed that similar levels
of ERK1/2 proteins were seen in Act D-treated and untreated KS cells.
In addition, we showed that OM and IL-1ß induced rapid
tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in KS cells, which was not
influenced by Act D treatment (Fig. 7
B). Accordingly, the
Act D treatment selectively abolished the TNFR-I-mediated ERK1/2
activation in KS cells. Taken together, the selective inhibition of
TNFR-I-ERK1/2 signaling pathway in Act D-treated KS cells can be
explained by the lack of MADD expression in these cells. It seems
likely that MADD provides a link between TNFR-I and ERK1/2 activation
in KS cells, thereby leading to proliferative responses of these cells.
|
| Discussion |
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|
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seems
to be mediated by TNFR-I; however, functional roles of TNFR-I and
TNFR-II in the control of cell growth may depend on the cell type 26, 27 . For instance, proliferative responses of fibroblasts are
controlled by TNFR-I, while growth stimulation of thymocytes and
cytotoxic T cells is attributed to TNFR-II clustering 46, 47, 48 . Both
receptors are required for proliferation of NK cells, PBMCs, and
megakaryoblastic leukemic cells 49, 50, 51 . In our present study, we
found that the neutralizing mAb directed against TNFR-I completely
inhibits TNF-
-induced KS cell proliferation, whereas neutralizing
TNFR-II-specific mAb had little or no effect on growth (Fig. 2
for KS
cells are exclusively mediated by activating TNFR-I. Such selective
inhibition of growth in the presence of neutralizing anti-TNFR-I
mAb cannot be explained simply by differential expression of these
receptors, since we show that KS cells coexpress both types of TNFRs
(Fig. 2
to the cell
surface and delivering it to neighboring TNFR-I 52 . Since TNFR-II has
a higher affinity (Kd value of 0.1 nM) than
TNFR-I (Kd value of 0.5 nM), TNF-
may first
bind to TNFR-II, at low ligand concentrations 26 . However, this event
seems unlikely for the TNF-
-induced proliferation of KS cells, since
inhibitory effects of neutralizing anti-TNFR-II mAb on KS cell
growth were not observed even at the lowest concentration of TNF-
required for growth induction (data not shown).
TNF-
significantly activated the ERK1/2 signaling pathway in KS
cells (Fig. 3
). Using the MEK1/2-specific inhibitor PD98059, we
obtained evidence that the TNF-
-induced ERK1/2 activation is
required to trigger proliferative responses of KS cells (Fig. 5
).
Amaral et al. reported that OM stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation and
activation of ERK2, and inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphorylation
profoundly suppressed OM-induced KS cell growth 53 . We showed that OM
and IL-1ß can induce ERK1/2 activation in KS cells (Fig. 7
B). In addition, PD98059 completely inhibited OM- and
IL-1ß-induced growth of KS cells (K. Murakami-Mori, unpublished
observations). Taken together, it seems apparent that the activation of
ERK1/2 is an absolute requirement for proliferative response of KS
cells. On the other hand, we reported that the simple treatment with
acidic or basic fibroblast growth factor alone is inadequate for growth
promotion of KS cells, although fibroblast growth factors are known as
strong activators of ERK1/2 25 . Activation of an additional signaling
pathway(s) may be required for KS cell proliferation. Little is known
about the intracellular signaling pathway by which TNF-
exerts its
mitogenic activity. Dionne et al. reported that TNF-
-induced
activation of ERK1/2 is required for growth of rat intestinal crypt
cells 54 . In contrast, TNF-
promoted growth of human
megakaryoblastic leukemia cells, but this cytokine failed to activate
ERK1/2 in these cells, thereby suggesting that the ERK1/2 signaling
pathway is not involved in TNF-
-induced proliferation 51 . TNF-
is also known to activate other MAPK family members, JNK and p38 MAPK
19 . We noted weak activation of JNK and p38 MAPK in TNF-
-treated
KS cells (data not shown). Involvement of these MAPKs in
TNF-
-induced proliferation of KS cells is currently under
investigation.
We consider that TNFR-I mediates the TNF-
-induced phosphorylation of
ERK1/2 and its activation in KS cells, as based on the potential of
antagonistic anti-TNFR-I mAb to inhibit these responses (Fig. 4
).
In contrast, TNFR-II does not participate in the ERK1/2 signaling
pathway in KS cells, since the TNFR-II-specific neutralizing mAb had
little effect on phosphorylation and activation of ERK1/2 in these
cells (Fig. 4
). Considering that the intracellular regions of TNFR-I
and TNFR-II are structurally unrelated 26, 27 , it is conceivable that
these two receptors are responsible for induction of distinct
intracellular signaling events. In spite of the ability of TNF-
to
phosphorylate and activate ERK1/2, the cytoplasmic domains of TNFR-I
have no intrinsic kinase activity 26, 27 . The cytoplasmic death
domain of TNFR-I is known to mediate a direct interaction of this
receptor with the adapter molecule TRADD, which recruits the
signal-transducing molecules FADD, TRAF2, and RIP. Such a
TNFR-I-associated signaling complex has been implicated in the
initiation of an apoptotic response and the activation of nuclear
factor-
B 33, 34, 42, 43, 44 . TRAF2 and RIP also mediate the JNK
activation; however, none of these signaling molecules is able to
induce ERK1/2 activation, as evidenced in experiments using
overexpression of these proteins 55 . In the present study, we show
the possibility that the novel TNFR-I-associated death domain protein,
MADD, is associated with TNFR-I-mediated activation of ERK1/2 in KS
cells: TNF-
failed to induce ERK1/2 activation in Act D-treated KS
cells, in which MADD expression was completely and selectively
suppressed (Figs. 6
and 7
). Expressions of other components of the
TNFR-I signaling complex were not influenced by Act D treatment of KS
cells (Fig. 6
). Schievella et al. showed that MADD interacts with
TNFR-I and TRADD through their death domains. Overexpression of this
protein had no effect on the induction of apoptosis, but it induced
robust activation of ERK1/2 in COS cells 35 . Taken together, it seems
reasonable to assume that MADD links TNFR-I to the ERK1/2 activation
for triggering the proliferative response of KS cells. Small
GTP-binding proteins (G proteins), such as RAS, CDC42, and RAC, have
been implicated in activation of ERK1/2 and JNK signaling cascades 56, 57 . Most recently, Brown et al. showed that MADD is highly homologous
to a member of the GDP/GTP exchange protein family that plays an
important role in generation of GTP-bound active forms of G proteins
58 . These findings may suggest that MADD participates in the
TNFR-I-ERK1/2 signaling pathway via activation of G proteins. Further
studies on the molecular basis of interactions between MADD and G
proteins in KS cells may provide new insights into the mechanism by
which TNF-
elicits the mitogenic response of KS cells.
TNF-
has been considered a target for KS therapy, since this
cytokine is known to play a pivotal role in inflammatory responses and
angiogenic changes, characteristic features of KS lesions 59 . In
addition, high levels of TNF-
expression are evident in KS lesions
23 . Aggravated development of KS lesions has been noted during times
of opportunistic infections, events probably associated with increased
serum TNF-
levels in AIDS patients 7 . Thus, TNF-
may provide
conditions favorable for KS progression. Epidemiologic studies show
that KS is associated with a novel human herpesvirus-8 infection 60 .
Since this virus productively infects mononuclear cells infiltrating KS
lesions, this virus may contribute to development and maintenance of KS
lesions by triggering local inflammatory cytokine production 61, 62 .
Because KS cell is a regulatory element in this lesion, mitogenic
cytokines for KS cell could be good targets for blocking KS development
and progression, at least during the early stages of the disease 10 .
Our evidence shows that TNF-
induces KS cell proliferation through
direct activation of the TNFR-I-ERK1/2 pathway, and that treatment of
KS cells with anti-TNFR-I mAb or PD98059 profoundly inhibits
proliferation of these cells. Such knowledge should lead to a
therapeutic approach for anti-KS treatment. Development of
pathogenesis-based therapies that provide tumor specificity can be
considered.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
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2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr. Kaoru Murakami-Mori, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1747. ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: KS, Kaposis sarcoma; Act D, actinomycin D; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; FADD, Fas-associated death domain protein; MADD, mitogen-activated protein kinase-activating death domain protein; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; MEK, MAPK/ERK activator kinase; OM, oncostatin M; RIP, receptor-interacting protein; TRADD, TNFR-I-associated death domain protein; TRAF2, TNFR-associated factor-2; GST, glutathione S-transferase. ![]()
Received for publication October 28, 1998. Accepted for publication December 9, 1998.
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