Activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase by TGF-beta1 via TbetaRII and Smad7 dependent mechanisms in human bronchial epithelial BEP2D cells.

Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) can activate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in many types of cells. The mechanism of this activation is not well elucidated. Here, we explore the role of TGF-beta/Smads signaling compounds in TGF-beta1-mediated activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) MAPK in human papillomavirus (HPV)-18 immortalized human bronchial epithelial cell line BEP2D and the role of TGF-beta1-induced phosphorylation of ERK in proliferation and apoptosis of BEP2D. The cell models of siRNA-mediated silencing of TGF-beta receptor type II (TbetaRII), Smad2, Smad3, Smad4, and Smad7 were employed in this study. Our results demonstrate that TGF-beta1 activates ERK in a time-dependent manner with a maximum effect at 60 min; overexpression of Smad7 increased this TGF-beta1-mediated phosphorylation of the ERK; and siRNA-mediated silencing of TbetaRII, Smad3, Smad4, and Smad7 abrogated this effect. Moreover, we observed that overexpression of Smad7 restored TGF-beta1-mediated ERK phosphorylation in Smad4 knockdown cells but not in TbetaRII knockdown cells. In BEP2D cells, TGF-beta1 treatment effectively inhibited cells' proliferation and induced their apoptosis. Pretreatment with U0126, an inhibitor of ERK1/2, significantly enhanced the TGF-beta1-mediated antiproliferative and apoptosis induction effects in BEP2D cells. These data revealed that TbetaRII and Smad7 play the critical roles in TGF-beta1-mediated activation of ERK; Smad3 and Smad4 can play an indirect role through up-regulating Smad7 expression; and TGF-beta1-induced phosphorylation of ERK may participate in BEP2D cell proliferation and apoptosis regulation.