Tyrosine phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases is necessary for activation of murine macrophages by natural and synthetic bacterial products.

The purpose of these studies was to determine the intracellular signal transduction pathways of bacterial products in murine macrophages from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-responder C3H/HeN and LPS-nonresponder C3H/HeJ mice. Both LPS and synthetic lipopeptide CGP 31362 (LPP) induced production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in C3H/HeN macrophages. In C3H/HeJ macrophages, however, TNF-alpha was induced only by incubation with LPP. Both LPS and LPP induced tyrosine phosphorylation on proteins with apparent molecular masses of 39, 41, and 45 kD (p35, p41, and p45) in C3H/HeN macrophages, whereas in C3H/HeJ macrophages, tyrosine phosphorylation was induced only by LPP. 20-h incubation with LPS or LPP downregulated TNF-alpha production/secretion and tyrosine phosphorylation in C3H/HeN macrophages induced by additional LPS or LPP. In C3H/HeJ macrophages, however, the downregulation of TNF-alpha production and tyrosine phosphorylation were observed only with LPP. Protein kinase assays, Western blotting analyses, phenyl-Sepharose chromatography, and immunocomplex kinase assay suggested that p45 and p39 were similar or identical to mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase 1 and 2, respectively. Pretreatment of macrophages with LPS or LPP did not change the amount of kinase proteins but inhibited the stimulation of kinase activity by the agents. These data suggest that MAP kinases are among target proteins involved in the transduction of LPS and LPP signals that lead to activation of murine macrophages to produce/secrete TNF.