Central role of the exchange factor GEF-H1 in TNF-?-induced sequential activation of Rac, ADAM17/TACE, and RhoA in tubular epithelial cells.
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ABSTRACT: Transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) by tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF-?) is a key step in mediating RhoA activation and cytoskeleton and junction remodeling in the tubular epithelium. In this study we explore the mechanisms underlying TNF-?-induced EGFR activation. We show that TNF-? stimulates the TNF-? convertase enzyme (TACE/a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-17), leading to activation of the EGFR/ERK pathway. TACE activation requires the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38, which is activated through the small GTPase Rac. TNF-? stimulates both Rac and RhoA through the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF)-H1 but by different mechanisms. EGFR- and ERK-dependent phosphorylation at the T678 site of GEF-H1 is a prerequisite for RhoA activation only, whereas both Rac and RhoA activation require GEF-H1 phosphorylation on S885. Of interest, GEF-H1-mediated Rac activation is upstream from the TACE/EGFR/ERK pathway and regulates T678 phosphorylation. We also show that TNF-? enhances epithelial wound healing through TACE, ERK, and GEF-H1. Taken together, our findings can explain the mechanisms leading to hierarchical activation of Rac and RhoA by TNF-? through a single GEF. This mechanism could coordinate GEF functions and fine-tune Rac and RhoA activation in epithelial cells, thereby promoting complex functions such as sheet migration.
SUBMITTER: Waheed F
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3608494 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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