Phosphoinositide (PI) 3-kinase and the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascades are activated by many of the same ligands. Several groups have reported involvement of PI 3-kinase in the activation of Erk1 and Erk2, whereas many other groups have shown that activation of Erk1 and Erk2 is not sensitive to inhibitors of PI 3-kinase such as wortmannin. Here we show that wortmannin inhibition of the MAP kinase pathway is cell type- and ligand-specific. Wortmannin blocks platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-dependent activation of Raf-1 and the MAP kinase cascade in Chinese hamster ovary cells, which have few PDGF receptors, but has no significant effect on Erk activation in Swiss 3T3 cells, which have high levels of PDGF receptors. However, wortmannin blocks activation of Erk proteins if Swiss 3T3 cells are stimulated with lower, physiological levels of PDGF. These results suggest that PI 3-kinase is in an efficient pathway for activation of MAP kinase, but that MAP kinase can be stimulated by a redundant pathway when a large number of receptors are activated. We present evidence that a protein kinase C family member downstream of phospholipase Cγ is involved in the redundant pathway.

Homodimerization of the erythropoietin (EPO) receptor (EPO-R) in response to EPO binding transiently activates the receptor-associated protein tyrosine kinase JAK2. Tyrosine phosphorylation of the EPO-R creates "docking sites" for SH2 domain(s) in signaling molecules such as the protein tyrosine phosphatases SH-PTP1 and SH-PTP2, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3 kinase), and STAT5. However, little is known about the specific intracellular signals essential for proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitors. Here we show that an EPO-R containing only one cytosolic (phospho)tyrosine residue, Y479, induces a signal transduction pathway sufficient for proliferation and differentiation of fetal liver progenitors of erythroid colony-forming units from EPO-R(-/-) mice as well as for proliferation of cultured hematopoietic cells. This cascade involves sequential EPO-induced recruitment of PI3 kinase to the EPO-R and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase activity, independent of the Shc/Grb2-adapter pathway and of STAT5. Protein kinase C epsilon may be one of the mediators connecting PI3 kinase with the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade. Our results identify a signaling cascade important in vivo for erythroid cell proliferation and differentiation.

We identified a serine/threonine protein kinase that is associated with and phosphorylates phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PtdIns 3-kinase). The serine kinase phosphorylates both the 85- and 110-kDa subunits of PtdIns 3-kinase and purifies with it from rat liver and immunoprecipitates with antibodies raised to the 85-kDa subunit. Tryptic phosphopeptide maps indicate that p85 from polyomavirus middle T-transformed cells is phosphorylated in vivo at three sites phosphorylated in vitro by the associated serine kinase. The 85-kDa subunit of PtdIns 3-kinase is phosphorylated in vitro on serine at a stoichiometry of approximately 1 mol of phosphate per mol of p85. This phosphorylation results in a three- to sevenfold decrease in PtdIns 3-kinase activity. Dephosphorylation with protein phosphatase 2A reverses the inhibition. This suggests that the association of protein phosphatase 2A with middle T antigen may function to activate PtdIns 3-kinase.

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase was purified 27,000-fold from rat liver. The enzyme was purified by acid precipitation of the cytosol followed by chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose, S-Sepharose, hydroxylapatite, Mono-Q, and Mono-S columns. When analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the purified phosphoinositide 3-kinase preparation contained an 85-kDa protein and a protein doublet of approximately 110 kDa. The 85- and 110-kDa proteins focus together on native isoelectric focusing gels and are cross-linked by dithiobis(succinylamide propionate), showing that the 110- and 85-kDa proteins are a complex. The apparent size of the native enzyme, as determined by gel filtration, is 190 kDa. The 85-kDa subunit is the same protein previously shown to associate with polyoma virus middle T antigen and the platelet-derived growth factor receptor (Kaplan, D. R., Whitman, M., Schaffhausen, B., Pallas, D. C., White, M., Cantley, L., and Roberts, T. M. (1987) Cell 50, 1021-1029). The two proteins co-migrate on two-dimensional gels; and, using a Western blotting procedure, 32P-labeled middle T antigen specifically blots the 85-kDa protein. The purified enzyme phosphorylates phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate, and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. The apparent Km values for ATP were found to be 60 microM with phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate or phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate as the substrate. The apparent Km for phosphatidyinositol is 60 microM, for phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate is 9 microM, and for phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate is 4 microM. The maximum specific activity using phosphatidylinositol as the substrate is 0.8 mumol/mg/min. The enzyme requires Mg2+ with an optimum of 5 mM. Substitution of Mn2+ for Mg2+ results in only approximately 10% of the Mg2(+)-dependent activity. Physiological calcium concentrations have no effect on the enzyme activity. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase has a broad pH optimum around 7.