Down-modulation of epidermal growth factor receptor affinity in fibroblasts treated with interleukin 1 or tumor necrosis factor is associated with phosphorylation at a site other than threonine 654.

Interleukin 1 or tumor necrosis factor alpha can cause a transient down-modulation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) binding to quiescent fibroblast monolayers; the effect results from a reduction in EGF receptor (EGF-R) affinity and appears to be mediated by a protein kinase C (PKC)-independent mechanism. Here we show transient increases in EGF-R serine/threonine phosphorylation which are temporally coordinated with the effects on EGF binding; we also demonstrate that the cytokine-mediated phosphorylations, unlike those caused by PKC activators, have little discernible effect upon intrinsic EGF-R-associated tyrosine kinase activity. Cytokine-mediated EGF-R phosphorylation is resistant to staurosporine, an extremely potent inhibitor of PKC. Analysis of tryptic 32P-phosphopeptides reveals that Thr654, the unique site of PKC-mediated phosphorylation, is not phosphorylated in cytokine-treated cells, but a different, relatively acidic, peptide containing phosphoserine can be detected instead.