Effects of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and tumour necrosis factor-alpha on tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases in human neutrophils.

The present study was undertaken to determine the identities and characteristics of proteins with molecular masses between 40 and 44 kDa whose tyrosine phosphorylation increases in human neutrophils following stimulation of these cells with tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Immunoblotting results demonstrate that addition of GM-CSF to human neutrophils increases the tyrosine phosphorylation of two proteins with molecular masses of 42 and 44 kDa. However, the addition of TNF-alpha to neutrophils induces a time- and dose-dependent increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of a 40 kDa protein. Immunoprecipitation using specific mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) isoform antibodies and an antibody which recognizes phosphotyrosine-containing proteins demonstrated that the 42 and 44 kDa proteins are isoforms of MAPKs. Utilizing an in situ gel kinase activity assay, GM-CSF increases the kinase activity of the 42 and 44 kDa proteins. Moreover, using immunoprecipitated p42 and p44 MAPK isoforms in this gel assay revealed activity associated with the p42 and p44 MAPK isoforms. Using the same in situ assay, TNF-alpha induces an increase in kinase activity of a 40-42 kDa protein. However, the 40 kDa protein whose phosphorylation on tyrosine residues increased in human neutrophils following stimulation with TNF-alpha is not a member of the known MAPK family, demonstrating the divergences in pathways utilized by GM-CSF and TNF-alpha. This 40 kDa protein may be related to the recently identified protein that becomes phosphorylated on tyrosine residues upon stimulation of the human epidermal carcinoma cell line KB by interleukin-1. In these cells the p40 protein is part of a protein kinase cascade which results in the phosphorylation of the small heat shock protein, hsp27.