Cell- and gene-specific interactions between signal transduction pathways revealed by okadaic acid. Studies on the plasminogen activating system.

The potential contribution of serine/threonine-specific protein phosphatases in the transcriptional regulation of plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor gene expression was explored in human HT-1080 fibrosarcoma and U-937 monocyte-like cells using okadaic acid, a potent and specific inhibitor of phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A). In both cell types okadaic acid induced plasminogen activator type 2 (PAI-2) gene transcription and mRNA and potentiated induction mediated by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate and tumor necrosis factor. Okadaic acid-mediated induction of PAI-2 was inhibited by 8-bromo-cAMP in HT-1080 cells but not in U-937 cells. Okadaic acid had opposite effects on urokinase (u-PA) gene expression in the two cell lines; u-PA mRNA and gene transcription was suppressed in HT-1080 cells but transiently induced in U-937 cells. Tissue-type PA (t-PA) mRNA, although undetectable in U-937 cells, was also suppressed by okadaic acid in HT-1080 cells. This effect was selective, as constitutive and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-mediated expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 mRNA was not modulated by okadaic acid in either cell type. These results indicate that PP1 and PP2A protein phosphatases are involved in signal transduction pathways modulating PAI-2, u-PA, and t-PA, and furthermore, that okadaic acid interaction with the protein kinase C and A pathways are gene- and cell type-specific.