A role for the small GTPase Rac in polyomavirus middle-T antigen-mediated activation of the serum response element and in cell transformation.

The oncogenic proteins encoded by papovaviruses, the tumor antigens, have been extensively used as model systems to study mitogenic signaling and cell transformation. These proteins stimulate cell growth in cultured cells and induce tumors in virus infected or transgenic animals. One of these proteins, polyomavirus middle-T, acts like a constitutively activated tyrosine growth factor receptor. Middle-T recruits several cellular enzymes into a multifunctional complex located at cellular membranes. This results in the activation of cellular enzymes involved in the regulation of cell signaling, like tyrosine kinases of the Src family, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and a GDP/GTP exchange factor for Ras. These activities are all required for stimulation of cell growth by middle-T and activate members of the MAP kinase family. Here we investigate the role of T antigen-activated pathways in the stimulation of transcription of immediate early genes. These genes are essential for progression of resting cells into S phase. Our data show that Rho family GTPases play an essential role in cell transformation by middle-T. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the c-fos promoter is activated by two Ras-initiated signaling cascades. One is Raf-dependent and requires binding of SHC and PI 3-kinase to the middle-T complex. This pathway signals via ternary complex factor (TCF) to the serum response element (SRE) of the c-fos promoter. Signaling to TCF by Raf also depends on functional Rac, but not CDC42, as demonstrated in luciferase reporter assays with an ETS domain-containing promoter. The second pathway is Raf-independent, does not require SHC but functional PI 3-kinase, and transduces signals via Rac to serum response factor (SRF). Microinjection of dominant negative Rac1 blocks nuclear translocation of ERK1 in middle-T-expressing cells. This lends support to the idea that the two signaling cascades initiated by Ras show crosstalk at the level of MAP kinase-mediated signaling to nuclear transcription factors.