Raf-1/bcl-2 phosphorylation: a step from microtubule damage to cell death. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Recent studies have shown that paclitaxel leads to activation of Raf-1 kinase and have suggested that this activation is essential for bcl-2 phosphorylation and apoptosis. In the present study, we demonstrate that, in addition to paclitaxel, other agents that interact with tubulin and microtubules also induce Raf-1/bcl-2 phosphorylation, whereas DNA-damaging drugs, antimetabolites, and alkylating agents do not. Activation of Raf-1 kinase by paclitaxel is linked to tubulin polymerization; the effect is blunted in paclitaxel-resistant cells, the tubulin of which does not polymerize following the addition of paclitaxel. In contrast, vincristine and vinblastine, drugs to which the paclitaxel-resistant cells retain sensitivity were able to bring about Raf-1 phosphorylation. The requirement for disruption of microtubules in this signaling cascade was strengthened further using paclitaxel analogues by demonstrating a correlation between tubulin polymerization, Raf-1/bcl-2 phosphorylation, and cytotoxicity. Inhibition of RNA or protein synthesis prevents Raf-1 activation and bcl-2 phosphorylation, suggesting that an intermediate protein(s) acts upstream of Raf-1 in this microtubule damage-activating pathway. A model is proposed that envisions a pathway of Raf-1 activation and bcl-2 phosphorylation following disruption of microtubular architecture, serving a role similar to p53 induction following DNA damage.

publication date

  • January 1, 1997

Research

keywords

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
  • Microtubules
  • Paclitaxel
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
  • Tubulin

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0031036307

PubMed ID

  • 8988053

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 57

issue

  • 1