Disruption of microtubules inhibits the stimulation of tissue plasminogen activator expression and promotes plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 expression in human endothelial cells.

The expression of certain proteolytic enzymes involved in cell migration (collagenase, urokinase) can be enhanced by the disruption of cellular cytoskeletal organization, suggesting an association between cell shape and gene expression. We have examined the effect of cytoskeleton-disrupting agents on the production and secretion of another proteolytic enzyme, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and its inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), in human endothelial cells. Addition of 1 x 10(-6) M colchicine, 5 x 10(-6) M cytochalasin B, 10(-6) M nocodazole, or 10(-6) M tubulazole had no effect on the constitutive rate of release of tPA. However, the three microtubule-disrupting agents--colchicine, nocodazole, and tubulazole--depressed the stimulation of tPA secretion by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) by 50- to 65%. Disruption of microfilament structure by cytochalasin B had no effect. In contrast, microtubule disruption in the absence or presence of PMA stimulated PAI-1 secretion by 2.5 and 2 times, respectively. The depression of tPA secretion was not due to inhibition of the secretory function since tPA did not accumulate intracellularly during colchicine treatment. Nor did colchicine affect the PMA activation of protein kinase C-alpha, upon which stimulation of tPA is dependent; neither translocation of the kinase nor phosphorylation of the protein kinase C substrate protein, P80, was inhibited. Measurement of tPA mRNA levels demonstrated that the increase which precedes PMA-enhanced tPA secretion was also inhibited by colchicine by 50%. However, tPA gene transcriptional activity was only reduced 13%, suggesting that a post-transcriptional event was affected by microtubule disruption. PAI-1 mRNA levels and transcription rates were elevated 3.5 times. This study suggests that the changes that occur in endothelial cells during PMA-induced signal transmission leading to enhanced tPA mRNA levels and tPA antigen production can be partly blocked by agents that disrupt microtubule organization.