Sphingosine 1-phosphate induces expression of early growth response-1 and fibroblast growth factor-2 through mechanism involving extracellular signal-regulated kinase in astroglial cells.

In rat type I astrocytes and C6 glioma cells, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) clearly induced the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) mRNA to an extent comparable to that achieved by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and endothelin. In C6 cells, Western blotting showed that S1P also induced expression of early growth response-1 (Egr-1), one of the immediate early gene products and an essential transcriptional factor for FGF-2 expression. On the other hand, sphingosine, a substrate for sphingosine kinase which forms intracellular S1P, was a very weak activator for the expression of either FGF-2 or Egr-1. The S1P-induced Egr-1 expression was partially inhibited by treatment of the cells with either calphostin C, an inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC), or pertussis toxin (PTX), and completely inhibited by the combination of these agents. Essentially, the same inhibitory pattern by these agents has been observed for S1P-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation. The S1P-induced expression of Egr-1 was also completely inhibited in association with complete inhibition of ERK by PD 98059, an ERK kinase inhibitor. Thus, the S1P-induced activation of the Egr-1/FGF-2 system may be mediated through ERK activation, which may involve at least two signaling pathways, i.e., a PTX-sensitive G-protein-dependent pathway and a PKC-dependent pathway.