Insulin and tumor-promoting agent regulate an inhibitor of the 44-kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1 in fibroblasts.

We have examined the negative regulation of the 44-kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase), also known as extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1 (ERK1), in NIH3T3 cells transfected with an expression plasmid encoding the human insulin receptor (NHIR cells). In these cells ERK1 activation is induced by two distinct stimuli, insulin and tumor-promoting agent (TPA). While insulin was found to be more potent than TPA for ERK1 activation, both stimuli produced the same transient activation pattern with a rapid peak (reached within 5 min) followed by a fast decrease within 20 min. By performing reconstitution experiments with immunoprecipitated ERK1 and lysates from NHIR cells, we showed that extracts from untreated cells exhibit an ERK1 inhibitory activity. Interestingly, this inhibitor was found to be regulated by insulin and TPA with a profile that is the mirror image of ERK1 activity. This repressing activity was sensitive to tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors, such as sodium orthovanadate and zinc acetate, but it was not affected by serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitors, such as sodium fluoride and okadaic acid. Moreover, it was possible to observe in extracts of NHIR cells an activity dephosphorylating ERK1. The time course of this phosphatase activity was comparable to that of the ERK1 inhibition, suggesting that the repressing activity could reflect a dephosphorylating action. Interestingly, phosphatase 2A treatment of extracts from 5-min TPA-treated cells (where the ERK1 inhibitor was weak) was able to induce an increase in the ERK1 repressing activity. This suggests that serine/threonine dephosphorylation of ERK1 inhibitor leads to an increase in its activity. In summary, we have shown that NHIR cells contain a regulatable ERK1 inhibitor, which is likely to be due to tyrosine phosphatase(s). We would like to suggest that such activities are key components in the fine-tuning of the MAP kinase cascade.