Protein kinases and phosphatases are involved in erythropoietin-mediated signal transduction.

To study the role of protein phosphorylation in erythropoietin (EPO)-mediated signal transduction, we examined the effects of tyrosine phosphatase and tyrosine and serine-threonine kinase inhibitors as well as activators of serine kinases on DNA synthesis and cell proliferation in the murine EPO-dependent cell line HCD-57. HCD-57 cells were obtained synchronized in G0 by centrifugal elutriation, and DNA synthesis was measured by incorporation of labeled thymidine into DNA. Half-maximal DNA synthesis was stimulated by 0.001 U/ml of EPO. Sodium orthovanadate (Na3VO4), a tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, at 5 microM potentiated a subsaturating concentration of EPO. Na3VO4 alone stimulated HCD-57 DNA synthesis at concentrations of 0.1-20 microM. Zinc chloride, another tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, also stimulated HCD-57 DNA synthesis at concentrations of 50-100 microM. Genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, blocked the effect of EPO at a concentration of 5 micrograms/ml. Bryostatin, a protein kinase C (PKC) activator, stimulated DNA synthesis in HCD-57 cells at concentrations of 10(-9)-10(-10) M, whereas the phorbol ester, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), was stimulatory only at a concentration of 10(-11) M. Staurosporine, a PKC inhibitor, blocked the effect of EPO at a concentration of 10(-7) M, and H-7, a nonspecific protein kinase inhibitor, was not inhibitory. These agents also had similar effects on the in vitro proliferation of HCD-57 cells. Taken together, the data indicate that the EPO-mediated transition from G0 to S phase in HCD-57 cells involves the activation of both tyrosine and serine-threonine kinases and is modulated by tyrosine phosphatase activity.