Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of c-fos expression by the tumor promoter okadaic acid.

Phosphorylation events are major regulatory mechanisms of signal transduction pathways that control cell growth and differentiation. We analyzed the potential contribution of serine/threonine specific protein phosphatases to the regulation of the c-fos gene, a proto-oncogene that is involved in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation. By use of okadaic acid, an inhibitor of protein phosphatases 1 and 2A, we present evidence that expression of the c-fos gene is regulated by serine/threonine specific protein phosphatases. This control is exerted on the transcriptional as well as the post-transcriptional level. The results suggest that dephosphorylation of regulatory phosphoproteins is an important mechanism for the down-regulation of c-fos promoter activity and the rapid degradation of c-fos mRNA. Examination of two protein kinase pathways that are known to regulate c-fos expression indicated that okadaic acid acted synergistically with protein kinase C, but not with protein kinase A. Since inhibition of serine/threonine specific phosphatases increases proto-oncogene expression, these experiments further strengthen the view that certain protein phosphatases may act as negative regulators of cell growth.