Activation of a cytosolic serine protein kinase by epidermal growth factor.

Exposure of A-431 cells to epidermal growth factor (EGF) results in a rapid enhancement (approximately 10-fold) of cytosolic serine protein kinase activity. The increase in serine kinase activity may be detected using a number of peptide and protein substrates. Enhancement of kinase activity occurs within 1 min of exposure of the cells to EGF and reaches a maximum in 5 min. Similar results were obtained with a variety of cell lines. We have partially purified the EGF-activated kinase from A-431 cells. It has an apparent molecular mass of approximately 100 kDa by gel filtration. One distinguishing property of the enzyme is its sensitivity to inhibition by micromolar quantities of polyarginine; polylysine has no effect. The EGF-activated kinase is unaffected by cyclic nucleotides, Ca2+/calmodulin, Ca2+/diolein/phosphatidylserine, or heparin. The enhancement of cytosolic serine kinase activity in A-431 cells appears to be an early event in cell "activation" by a number of biological response modifiers including EGF, bradykinin, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, and histamine.