Arginine-vasopressin activates the JAK-STAT pathway in vascular smooth muscle cells

JAK (Janus-activated kinase)-STAT (signal transducers and activators of transcription) signaling is a major signal transduction pathway in mammalian cells. Different growth factors and cytokines were reported as activators of the JAK-STAT pathway in various cell types. Interestingly, arginine-vasopressin (AVP) was never reported as an inducer of the JAK-STAT pathway. In the present study, we show for the first time that AVP stimulation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induces STAT3 tyrosine and serine phosphorylation, followed by nuclear translocation of the phosphorylated STAT3. In addition, we found that AVP induced JAK2 tyrosine phosphorylation. Taken together, these results demonstrate that AVP activates the JAK-STAT pathway in VSMCs. Furthermore, our results indicate that AVP-induced STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation requires both JAK2 and c-Src tyrosine kinases. The present study also implicates that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2), which are serine/threonine kinases, are the mediators of STAT3 serine phosphorylation upon AVP stimulation. We further suggest that AVP-induced STAT3 serine phosphorylation negatively modulates AVP-induced STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation. Finally, our results implicate a novel role for the JAK-STAT pathway, mediating AVP-induced VSMC hypertrophy.