Increased expression of EGFR in gastric mucosa of aged rats

Although in Fischer-344 rats aging is found to be associated with increased gastric mucosal proliferative activity, little is known about the intracellular events that regulate this process. The present investigation examines the age-related changes in gastric mucosal tyrosine kinase activity and expression of epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) and its structural and functional analog p185c-erbB-2, the protein product of c-erbB-2/c-neu protooncogene. We observed a significantly higher intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity and tyrosine phosphorylation of EGFR and p185c-erbB-2 in the gastric mucosa of 24-mo-old (aged) rats than in that of their 4- or 12-mo-old counterparts. This was associated with increased levels of EGFR protein and steady-state mRNA levels of EGFR and p185c-erbB-2. In addition, we also observed threefold higher steady-state mRNA levels of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha; one of the primary ligands of EGFR) in the gastric mucosa of aged rats than in that of 4-mo-old (young) animals. This was accompanied by a fivefold increase in the relative concentration of the 18-kDa precursor form of TGF-alpha in gastric mucosal membranes but not in the cytosol. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that aging is associated with increased tyrosine kinase activity of EGFR and p185c-erbB-2 in the gastric mucosa. Moreover, the observation that aging results in increased accumulation of TGF-alpha in gastric mucosal membranes raises the possibility that the membrane-bound TGF-alpha could partly be responsible for the constitutively active EGFR-induced signaling pathway in the gastric mucosa of aged rats and, in turn, for stimulation of mucosal proliferative activity.