In this study we examine signaling pathways linking the M 1 subtype of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M 1 mAChR) to activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) 1 and 2 in neuronal PC12D cells. We first show that activation of ERK1/2 by the M 1 mAChR agonist carbachol takes place primarily via a Ras-independent pathway that depends largely upon Rap1, another small GTP-binding protein in the Ras family. Rap1 in turn activates B-Raf, an upstream activator of ERK1/2. Consistent with these results, carbachol was found to activate Rap1 more potently than Ras. Similar to other small GTP-binding proteins, activation of Rap1 requires a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) to promote its conversion from the GDP-to GTP-bound form. Using specific antibodies, we show that a recently identified Rap1 GEF, calcium-and diacylglycerol-regulated guanine nucleotide exchange factor I (CalDAG-GEFI), is expressed in PC12D cells and that carbachol stimulates the formation of a complex containing CalDAG-GEFI, Rap1, and activated B-Raf. Finally, we show that expression of CalDAG-GEFI antisense RNA largely blocks carbachol-stimulated activation of hemagglutinin (HA)1-tagged B-Raf and formation of the CalDAG-GEFI/Rap1/ HA1-tagged B-Raf complex. Together, these data define a novel signaling pathway for M 1 mAChR, where increases in Ca 2؉ and diacylglycerol stimulate the sequential activation of CalDAG-GEFI, Rap1, and B-Raf, resulting in the activation of MEK and ERK1/2.

In this study we examined the contribution of MAPK1 and 2 [also known as extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)-1 and 2] to the induction of zif268 mRNA in PC12D cells by using two methods to block the activation of these kinases. In one set of experiments, we inhibited the activation of MAPK by pretreating cells with PD098059, a specific inhibitor of MEK (MAPKK), the immediate upstream activator of MAPK. In the second set of experiments, we blocked the activation of MAPK by overexpressing N17Ras, a dominant-negative form of Ha-Ras. These two approaches yielded similar results and showed that inhibition of MAPK blocks less than half of the induction of zif268 mRNA by NGF. Much of the residual induction of zif268 mRNA is blocked by low concentrations of wortmannin, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase. Since PI 3-kinase was previously shown to function upstream in epidermal growth factor (EGF)-mediated activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and JNK is known to phosphorylate and activate transcription factors that regulate the expression of zif268, we investigated the role of JNK in the induction of zif268 mRNA by NGF. Stimulation of PC12D cells with NGF weakly activates JNK, but this activation is enhanced rather than inhibited by pretreatment with wortmannin, suggesting that JNK does not function downstream of PI 3-kinase in the induction of zif268 mRNA. A role for JNK in the induction of the zif268 gene is indicated, however, by the fact that cotransfection of expression vectors encoding JIP-1 or the JNK binding domain of JIP-1, which act as dominant-negative inhibitors of JNK, partially blocks the NGF-mediated induction of a luciferase reporter gene linked to the zif268 promoter. Together, these results suggest that MAPK, PI-3 kinase and JNK each play a role in the induction of zif268 gene expression by NGF in PC12D cells.

1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H7)has often been used in combination with protein kinase inhibitor (N-(2-guanidinoethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide) (HA1004) to assess the contribution of protein kinase C (PKC) to cellular processes, including the induction of gene expression. This use of H7 and HA1004 is based upon the fact that H7 inhibits PKC more potently than HA1004 in in vitro assays. Thus, although both compounds are broad spectrum protein kinase inhibitors, inhibition by H7, but not by HA1004, has often been interpreted as evidence for the involvement of PKC in the cellular process under study. Here we describe experiments that show that this interpretation is not correct with regard to the induction of two immediate-early genes, zif268 and c-fos, in PC12D cells. In these studies we confirmed that H7, but not HA1004, potently blocks the induction of zif268 and c-fos mRNA by nerve growth factor, carbachol, phorbol ester, Ca 2؉ ionophore, or forskolin. Surprisingly, however, H7 has no effect on the ability of these agents to activate mitogen-activated protein kinase ( In this study, we show that pretreating PC12D cells with H7, but not with HA1004, significantly reduces levels of phosphorylated RNA polymerase II in vivo. These results suggest that H7 blocks gene expression by inhibiting the phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II, a step required for progression from transcription initiation to mRNA chain elongation.The immediate-early genes zif268 (also termed NGFI-A, egr-1, krox24, TIS8; reviewed in Ref. 1) and c-fos (2) encode transcription factors that have been proposed to function as "third messengers" in intracellular signal transduction cascades that convert information conveyed by extracellular stimuli into genomic responses that underlie growth, differentiation, and long term changes in the behavior of cells (3, 4). We have previously shown that NGF 1 (1) and the carbachol (carbamylcholine) cause the rapid induction of zif268 mRNA in PC12D cells (5). Induction of zif268 mRNA by NGF is mediated by the high affinity NGF receptor, TrkA, which activates the Ras/MAPK cascade (6). Induction by carbachol is mediated by the m1 subtype of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor, which activates phospholipase C to produce the second messengers inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and diacylglycerol (5). Increased intracellular levels of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate trigger the release of Ca 2ϩ from internal stores, which in turn opens "capacitative influx" Ca 2ϩ channels in the cell membrane, resulting in a sustained influx of extracellular Ca 2ϩ .2 Increased levels of diacylglycerol activate PKC. Both the sustained increase in intracellular Ca 2ϩ and the activation of PKC contribute to the induction of zif268 mRNA (5), at least in part by activating the MAPK cascade (81). Activation of the MAPK cascade is therefore a common element in the intracellular signaling events leading to gene expression that are initiated by NGF and carbachol in PC12D cells.In the course of investigating the involvement of PKC in t...