Many receptors that couple to heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding (G) proteins mediate rapid activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases, Erk1 and Erk2. The G i -coupled serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) 5-HT 1A receptor, heterologously expressed in Chinese hamster ovary or human embryonic kidney 293 cells, mediated rapid activation of Erk1/2 via a mechanism dependent upon both Ras activation and clathrinmediated endocytosis. This activation was attenuated by chelation of intracellular Ca 2؉ and Ca
2؉/calmodulin (CAM) inhibitors or the CAM sequestrant protein calspermin. The CAM-dependent step in the Erk1/2 activation cascade is downstream of Ras activation, because inhibitors of CAM antagonize Erk1/2 activation induced by constitutively activated mutants of Ras and c-Src but not by constitutively activated mutants of Raf and MEK (mitogen and extracellular signal-regulated kinase). Inhibitors of the classical CAM effectors myosin light chain kinase, CAM-dependent protein kinases II and IV, PP2B, and CAM-sensitive phosphodiesterase had no effect upon 5-HT 1A receptor-mediated Erk1/2 activation. Because clathrin-mediated endocytosis was required for 5-HT 1A receptor-mediated Erk1/2 activation, we postulated a role for CAM in receptor endocytosis. Inhibition of receptor endocytosis by use of sequestrationdefective mutants of -arrestin 1 and dynamin attenuated 5-HT 1A receptor-stimulated Erk1/2 activation. Inhibition of CAM prevented agonist-dependent endocytosis of epitope-tagged 5-HT 1A receptors. We conclude that CAM-dependent activation of Erk1/2 through the 5-HT 1A receptor reflects its role in endocytosis of the receptor, which is a required step in the activation of MEK and subsequently Erk1/2.Receptors coupled to heterotrimeric guanine nucleotidebinding (G) proteins, the largest known family of cell surface receptors, mediate cellular responses to many extracellular stimuli, such as neurotransmitters, peptide hormones, odorants, and photons (1). In addition to regulating the generation of soluble second messengers, many G protein-coupled receptors mediate proliferative or differentiative signals in various cultured cell lines and tissues via mitogen-activated protein (MAP) 1 kinases (2, 3). Erk1/2 MAP kinases are serine/threonine kinases involved in the activation of nuclear transcription factors. Erk1/2 activity is regulated by threonine/tyrosine phosphorylation, which is controlled by a highly conserved phosphorylation cascade. Phosphorylation of Erk1/2 is catalyzed by the MAP/Erk kinases 1 and 2 (MEK1 and MEK2) that are themselves phosphorylated and activated by MEK kinases such as raf-1 oncogene family proteins. Activation of Raf-1 occurs as a consequence of membrane translocation, which can be mediated by the GTP-bound form of the small G protein, Ras.Like the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor and other receptor tyrosine kinases, many G protein-coupled receptors regulate Ras function via tyrosine phosphorylation. Several G i -coupled receptors stimulate pertussis toxin-sensit...