Stimulation of protein phosphorylation by epidermal growth factor in pig skin (epidermis)

Incorporation of 32P-orthophosphoric acid into pig epidermal proteins was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The incorporation was observed in 2 major and 2 minor peaks with approximate molecular weights of 52,000 and 27,000, 17,000, and 12,000 respectively. Treatment with epidermal growth factor (EGF) consistently increased 32P incorporation into all 4 peaks. The stimulation was both time- and dose-dependent, and was not inhibited by the simultaneous addition of cycloheximide. In our previous study (submitted to J Invest Dermatol), we observed that EGF increased the cyclic GMP level in the same pig skin (epidermal) system. The possibility that the increased cyclic GMP leads to the protein phosphorylation observed in the present study was considered but ruled out because (1) the addition of cyclic GMP does not mimic the EGF treatment, (2) simultaneous addition of EGF and cyclic GMP stimulate phosphorylation to the same degree as the addition of EGF alone and (3) EGF stimulates phosphorylation in 20 min whereas the EGF induced increase in the cyclic GMP level takes 60 min.