ets-1 in astrocytes: expression and transmitter-evoked phosphorylation

The ets-1 protein has been primarily studied as a sequence-specific transcriptional regulator that is predominately expressed in lymphoid cells. In this report, we show that ets-1 is also expressed in astrocytes and astrocytoma cells and is regulated during both signal transduction and differentiation. Both isoforms of ets-1, p51 and p42, were found in astrocytes and astrocytoma cells, but whereas expression of p51 was strong, p42, the alternate splice product previously shown to lack the phosphorylation domain, was difficult to detect and was present at a level 10- to 40-fold lower than that of p51. This differed by roughly an order of magnitude from the ratio generally observable in T cells and thymocytes. In two astrocytoma lines of human origin, CCF and 1321N1, ets-1 phosphorylation was stimulated by bradykinin and carbachol, respectively. Glutamate, norepinephrine, and bradykinin elicited phosphorylation of p51 in cultures of primary rat type 1 astrocytes. ets-1 phosphorylation was dramatically blocked by KT5926, an inhibitor of myosin light-chain kinase, suggesting that this kinase may be involved in phosphorylation of ets-1 in vivo. Investigations of retinoic acid-induced differentiation in P19 cells provided further support for a strong correlation of ets-1 with the pathway for astrocyte differentiation.