Identification and endothelin-induced activation of multiple extracellular signal-regulated kinases in aortic smooth muscle cells.

In order to explore intracellular signaling pathways of the mitogenic action of endothelin (ET), we examined the effect of ET on activities of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) in rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Treatment of rat aortic SMCs with ET-1 increased kinase activities toward myelin basic protein (MBP). Both 43- and 41-kDa proteins were activated when kinase assays were done in MBP-containing polyacrylamide gels after SDS-PAGE. These proteins were identified as ERK1 and ERK2 with immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting using antipeptide antibodies, respectively. These results indicate that ERKs mediate signal transduction by ET.