Retinoic acid priming potentiates the induction of urokinase-type plasminogen activator by cyclic adenosine monophosphate in mouse mammary carcinoma cells.

Interactive regulation of gene expression by retinoic acid (RA) and adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in mammary tumor cells was explored using Shionogi mouse mammary carcinoma cells (SC115) as a model and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) as a target gene product. Twenty-four hour treatment of SC115 cells with 100 nM RA, 1 mM 8-bromo-cAMP (BrcAMP), and 100 nM RA + 1 mM BrcAMP resulted in extracellular uPA activity increases of 1.4-fold, sevenfold, and 20-fold, respectively. These effects were dose-dependent with regard to both interacting members. Similar responses were obtained if 1 nM cholera toxin or 10 microM forskolin was used instead of the cAMP analog. Retinoids lacking the carboxylic acid function were inactive. The changes in uPA activity were accompanied by similar changes in uPA antigen concentration, as seen via Western blot analysis, and uPA mRNA abundance, as seen via Northern blot analysis. Actinomycin D, an inhibitor of RNA synthesis, blocked uPA stimulation by BrcAMP, suggesting that mRNA levels were transcriptionally regulated. The effect of BrcAMP on extracellular uPA activity was first evident at 2 h and peaked at approximately 6 h; the effect of RA alone and the synergistic response to joint treatment, however, followed a slower time course, requiring at least 12 h for initial expression and increasing gradually with time up to at least 48 h. Priming with RA for 48 h followed by extensive washing of the cells resulted in a threefold enhancement of the stimulatory effect of BrcAMP on uPA. Experiments utilizing the casein/plasminogen overlay method for the detection of uPA secretion by increased rate of uPA secretion per cell rather than to an increased fraction of uPA-secreting cells. Initial investigation of the mechanism of RA potentiation of cAMP responsiveness showed that RA did not alter cellular cAMP levels or total cAMP-dependent protein kinase A activity. Finally, the tumor promoter phorbol myristate acetate, an activator of protein kinase C, also increased SC115 cell uPA activity and synergized with RA. This raised the possibility that the enhancement of cAMP responsiveness by RA was indirectly mediated via an effect on protein kinase C. Experiments with protein kinase C-depleted cells, however, showed that this was not the case. In conclusion, RA treatment of SC115 cells potentiates the effect of cAMP on uPA expression at the single cell level via a partially irreversible mechanism independent of protein kinase C. The molecular target of RA and whether SC115 cell differentiation underlies the effect of RA remain to be established.