Mouse-transformed keratinocytes cultured in the presence of transforming growth factor 1 (TGF-1) acquire an array of morphologic and functional properties that give rise to a migratory phenotype that expresses mesenchymal molecular markers. This cellular conversion involves activation of the Ras-ERK pathway, enhancement of urokinase (uPA) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression and induction of invasiveness. In our present work, we demonstrate that cAMP and forskolin are able to prevent the expression of these mesenchymal properties, probably due to blockade of the Ras-ERK pathway. Our results also show that cAMP and forskolin are able to abolish the TGF-1-induced reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton that is characteristic of the mesenchymal phenotype and also inhibits the disruption of the E-cadherin cell to cell interactions. The latter responses seem to depend on the activity of protein kinase A, as demonstrated by the activation of the Ras-ERK pathway by specific protein kinase A inhibitors. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Key words: cAMP; urokinase; matrix metalloproteinases; E-cadherin; epithelial-mesenchymal transdifferentiationPrevious reports have shown that in transformed keratinocytes transforming growth factor 1 (TGF-1) induces an epithelialmesenchymal transition (EMT) associated with the development of highly invasive and metastatic spindle cell carcinoma. 1 We also demonstrated that this conversion proceeds through the activation of the Ras-ERK pathway and involves enhancement of uPA and MMP-9 expression and induction of invasiveness. 2,3 The EMT is characterized by a set of transient phenotypic changes often associated with the acquisition of migratory properties by cancer cells and provides a means for cancer propagation through the organism. 4 The most conspicuous cellular EMT events can be grouped into the following categories: (i) cell scattering, which involves disruption of cell-cell association and further acquisition of cell motility; (ii) the production of tumoral matrixdegrading proteases; and (iii) remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton that provides the molecular framework for cellular motility. 5 Cell scattering is the only feature always present in EMT 6 and involves E-cadherin (E-cad) down-modulation. E-cad, a homotypic cell-tocell interaction molecule that is expressed in epithelial cells, can act as a tumor suppressor that contributes to preserving cellular architecture and polarization by its association with F-actin through ␣ and  catenin. [7][8][9] It has been proposed that the second messenger cAMP can serve as an anticancer agent by acting as an inhibitor of the G1/S transition in the cell cycle or by inducing cell cycle-specific apoptosis. 10 -12 Moreover, recent data provide evidence that the modulation of intracellular cAMP levels can also regulate some cellular properties involved in cell motility. 13,14 At the signaling level, it has been demonstrated that an active cross-talk between the cAMP and the Ras-ERK signaling pathways allows cAMP to inhibit or activa...