The cyclosporin A-sensitive nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) proteins are expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells. Differential localization of NFAT isoforms and induction of NFAT-mediated transcription by phospholipase C-coupled cell surface receptors Article

Boss, V, Abbott, KL, Wang, XF et al. (1998). The cyclosporin A-sensitive nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) proteins are expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells. Differential localization of NFAT isoforms and induction of NFAT-mediated transcription by phospholipase C-coupled cell surface receptors . JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, 273(31), 19664-19671. 10.1074/jbc.273.31.19664

cited authors

  • Boss, V; Abbott, KL; Wang, XF; Pavlath, GK; Murphy, TJ

authors

abstract

  • Expression of the antigert-regulated, cyclosporin A-sensitive nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) is not restricted to lymphoid cells, as thought initially, but the physiological inducers of NFAT-mediated transcription in non-lymphoid cells are unknown. Here, cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) are shown to express two isoforms of the NFAT family endogenously, which are localized differentially in cells under resting conditions. Using a retroviral NFAT-specific luciferase reporter, we show that VSMC support previously unrecognized complexities in NFAT-mediated transcription, including evidence for negative regulation by Ca2+ signaling and positive regulation through co-activation of adenylyl cyclase and Ca2+ mobilization. The VSMC mitogen platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) induces NFAT-mediated transcription in VSMC. Thrombin and angiotensin II, which activate Gα(q)-coupled receptors, are significantly weaker inducers of NFAT-mediated luciferase expression than is PDGF-BB. However, co-stimulation studies show that Gα(q) receptor agonists augment the NFAT-mediated transcriptional response to PDGF-BB. This synergy can be explained in part by augmented intracellular Ca2+ transients elicited by multiple agonist challenges. These data indicate that agonists for phospholipase C-coupled receptors stimulate NFAT-mediated transcription in VSMC differentially, and that NFAT can function to integrate co-activating signals in the extracellular environment.

publication date

  • July 31, 1998

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 19664

end page

  • 19671

volume

  • 273

issue

  • 31