Endogenous expression and protein kinase A-dependent phosphorylation of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Ras-GRF1 in human embryonic kidney 293 cells ´ Jens Henrik Norum1, Trond Methi1, Raymond R Mattingly2 and Finn Olav Levy1 Department of Pharmacology, University of Oslo, Norway Department of Pharmacology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA Keywords 5-HT7, cAMP, ERK, GEF, serotonin Correspondence F O Levy, Department of Pharmacology, University of Oslo, PO Box 1057 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway Fax: +47 22840202 Tel: +47 22840237 or +47 22840201 E-mail: f.o.levy@medisin.uio.no (Received December 2004, revised February 2005, accepted 10 March 2005) doi:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2005.04658.x We have previously reported the Ras-dependent activation of the mitogenactivated protein kinases p44 and p42, also termed extracellular signalregulated kinases (ERK)1 and (ERK1 ⁄ 2), mediated through Gs-coupled serotonin receptors transiently expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells Whereas Gi- and Gq-coupled receptors have been shown to activate Ras through the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) called Ras-GRF1 (CDC25Mm) by binding of Ca2+ ⁄ calmodulin to its N-terminal IQ domain, the mechanism of Ras activation through Gs-coupled receptors is not fully understood We report the endogenous expression of Ras-GRF1 in HEK293 cells Serotonin stimulation of HEK293 cells transiently expressing Gs-coupled 5-HT7 receptors induced protein kinase A-dependent phosphorylation of the endogenous human Ras-GRF1 on Ser927 and of transfected mouse Ras-GRF1 on Ser916 Ras-GRF1 overexpression increased basal and serotonin-stimulated ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation Mutations of Ser916 inhibiting (Ser916Ala) or mimicking (Ser916Asp ⁄ Glu) phosphorylation did not alter these effects However, the deletion of amino acids 1–225, including the Ca2+ ⁄ calmodulin-binding IQ domain, from Ras-GRF1 reduced both basal and serotonin-stimulated ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation Furthermore, serotonin treatment of HEK293 cells stably expressing 5-HT7 receptors increased [Ca2+]i, and the serotonin-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was Ca2+-dependent Therefore, both cAMP and Ca2+ may contribute to the Ras-dependent ERK1 ⁄ activation after 5-HT7 receptor stimulation, through activation of a guanine nucleotide exchange factor with activity towards Ras Introduction Signals mediated through receptor tyrosine kinases [1] and G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) can induce the activation of intracellular cascades such as the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase – also called extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) – cascade The serine ⁄ threonine kinases ERK1 and ERK2 are activated by dual phosphorylation by the MAP kinase kinase, MEK, which becomes phosphorylated and activated by MEK kinases of the Raf family All three Raf isoforms [A-Raf, B-Raf and Raf-1 (C-Raf)] Abbreviations 5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin); CaM, calmodulin; EGF, epidermal growth factor; Epac, exchange protein directly activated by cAMP; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; GEF, guanine nucleotide exchange factor; GPCR, G protein-coupled receptor; H89, N-[2-(p-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide dihydrochloride; HEK, human embryonic kidney; HRP, horseradish peroxidase; MAP, mitogen-activated protein; MEK, mitogen-activated protein ⁄ extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase; PKA, protein kinase A; Sos1, son of sevenless 2304 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS J H Norum et al expressed in mammalian cells may become activated by members of the Ras family of small G proteins The activity of Ras proteins is under tight control of several classes of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating proteins Mammalian Son of sevenless (Sos1) is a ubiquitous Ras GEF and activates Ras following the stimulation of receptor tyrosine kinases, e.g the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor [1] Various GPCRs can also induce Ras activation via several classes of GEFs [2,3] Activation of phospholipase C through Gq-coupled receptors, with subsequent increased levels of inositol1,4,5-trisphosphate, diacylglycerol and free intracellular Ca2+, can activate Sos1 through a cascade that includes the proline-rich tyrosine kinase, Pyk2, Src and Grb2 [4,5], as well as Ras GEFs of the Ras-GRP (calDAG-GEF) family, through binding of Ca2+ ⁄ calmodulin (CaM) and diacylglycerol [6] Ras-GRF1, also called CDC25Mm [7,8], is another major GEF with activity towards Ras Ras-GRF1 mediates activation of Ras subsequent to the stimulation of Gi- and Gqcoupled receptors [8,9] The main mechanism for the activation of RasGRF1 is the binding of Ca2+ ⁄ CaM to the N-terminal IQ motif [10] We have previously shown that the treatment of NIH3T3 and COS-7 cells with carbachol [9] and lysophosphatidic acid [11], activating both Gq- and Gi-coupled receptors, induces the activation and phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 Furthermore, Ras-GRF1 is also heavily phosphorylated upon agonist activation of GPCRs, but the exact role of these phosphorylations is not fully understood Protein kinase A (PKA) is one of probably several kinases that can induce the phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 [12,13] The residues Ser916 and Ser898 in the mouse and rat sequences, respectively, are homologous PKA phosphorylation sites [14] Although forskolin-induced phosphorylation of Ser916 is not sufficient to activate wild-type Ras-GRF1, a recombinant version of RasGRF1, with a mutated phosphorylation site (Ser916Ala), has been shown to have reduced activity towards Ras both in vitro [12] and in an assay of Ras-dependent outgrowth of neurites from PC12 cells [14] These results indicate that even though phosphorylation of Ser916 may contribute to stimulation of the Ras-GEF activity of Ras-GRF1, cAMPdependent phosphorylation alone is not sufficient to activate Ras-GRF1 Ras-GRF1 is mainly expressed in brain tissue [15– 17], but expression of Ras-GRF1 mRNA has also been reported in some other tissues and non-neural cell lines [18] Several murine Ras-GRF1 cDNAs, encoding proteins of different molecular mass (from 54 to FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 140 kDa), have been identified [17,19] The smaller isoforms correspond to N-terminal deletions of the fulllength 140 kDa protein The physiological role of the guanine nucleotide exchange activity of the truncated forms is not known as they are missing the Ca2+ ⁄ CaM-binding IQ domain that is involved in the activation of Ras-GRF1 Stimulation of all the splice variants of the Gs-coupled serotonin receptor 5-hydroxytryptamine7 (5-HT7) increases intracellular levels of the second messenger cAMP [20], resulting in several intracellular effects, e.g activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP (Epacs), GEFs specific for Rap [21] In rat adrenal glomerulosa cells, stimulation of the 5-HT7 receptor also induces the increased free intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) through the low-voltage-activated T-type Ca2+ channels [22,23] We have recently shown that serotonin treatment of human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells transiently expressing either one of the Gs-coupled serotonin receptors 5-HT4(b) or 5-HT7(a) induces ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation [24] Although both Ras and Rap1 were activated, only Ras was involved in the pathway inducing ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation, which also involved Raf1 and MEK downstream of Ras However, in PC12 cells, 5-HT7-mediated Ca2+-independent and N-[2-(p-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide dihydrochloride (H89)-insensitive ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation has been reported to be enhanced by the overexpression of Epac and mimicked by a cAMP analogue stimulating both PKA and Epac, but not by an Epac-specific cAMP analogue [25] The differences in H89 sensitivity and possible signalling pathways involved may reflect cell-type variations in the ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation mediated through Gs-coupled serotonin receptors The mechanism of Ras activation through Gs-coupled receptors is not fully understood In the present study, we show endogenous expression of the Ca2+-dependent 140 kDa and shorter isoforms of RasGRF1 in HEK293 cells, as well as cAMP ⁄ PKAdependent phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 associated with ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation following stimulation of transfected 5-HT7 receptors However, mutating Ser916 of Ras-GRF1 to alanine, aspartic acid or glutamic acid did not alter the Ras-GRF1-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation We confirm 5-HT7-mediated [Ca2+]i increase and show Ca2+ dependence of serotonininduced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation and a mandatory role of the Ca2+ ⁄ CaM-binding IQ domain in RasGRF1-stimulated ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation Thus, both cAMP and Ca2+ may contribute to Ras-dependent ERK1 ⁄ activation following stimulation of the 2305 Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 5-HT7 receptor, by activating a guanine nucleotide exchange factor with activity towards Ras Results HEK293 cells express the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Ras-GRF1 The guanine nucleotide exchange factor Ras-GRF1 is mainly expressed in neurones of the central nervous system, although it has also been reported to be expressed in some other tissues [18,26] To investigate whether Ras-GRF1 plays a role in the activation of Ras ⁄ ERK signalling in HEK293 cells, we first used immunoprecipitation analysis and RT-PCR to detect whether Ras-GRF1 protein and mRNA, respectively, were expressed in our HEK293 cells The proteins immunoprecipitated from HEK293 cell lysates, by using a polyclonal antibody raised against a peptide mapping to the C terminus of the rat Ras-GRF1 sequence, were separated on SDS ⁄ PAGE (6% gel) and visualized on western blots probed with another polyclonal antibody raised against the C terminus of the human Ras-GRF1 sequence A protein of  140 kDa was detected in immunoprecipitates from HEK293 cells (Fig 1A), but was not present in control immunoprecipitations In whole-cell lysates from HEK293 cells, both full-length 140 kDa Ras-GRF1 and shorter isoforms, of  110, 95 and 60 kDa, were detected on western blots with A B Fig Human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells express Ras-GRF1 (A) Paramagnetic beads coated with anti-(Ras-GRF1) Ig (# sc-224) were used to immunoprecipitate Ras-GRF1 from the HEK293 cell lysate The precipitated proteins were separated on 6% SDS ⁄ PAGE and electroblotted over to poly(vinylidene difluoride) membranes before probing with polyclonal Ras-GRF1 antibodies (# sc-863) (B) cDNA produced from mRNA isolated from HEK293 cells was used as the substrate in RT-PCR with primer pairs specific for human Ras-GRF1 Primer pairs: lane 2, ON359 and ON360; lane 3, ON357 and ON358; and lane 4, ON361 and ON360 The PCR products and a DNA size marker, lane 1, were separated on agarose gels The expected sizes of the PCR products, in bp, are indicated to the right 2306 J H Norum et al anti-(Ras-GRF1) Ig (Fig 2A, right panel) Preabsorbing the Ras-GRF1 antibody with a blocking peptide prevented the antibody from recognizing any of the Ras-GRF1 isoforms (data not shown) cDNA to HEK293 cell mRNA was used as the substrate in PCR reactions, as described in the Experimental procedures The primer pairs specific for the A B C D Fig Serotonin induces phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 through the 5-hydroxytryptamine7(a) (5-HT7(a)) receptor, and HA-Ras-GRF1 induces extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1 ⁄ activation Human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells cotransfected with 5-HT7(a) receptor and empty or HA-Ras-GRF1 vector, as indicated, were treated with vehicle or 10 lM serotonin for the indicated periods of time The control, C, was treated with vehicle (10 lM HCl) for Proteins were separated on 6% (A, B and D) or 10% (C) SDS ⁄ PAGE and electroblotted over to poly(vinylidene difluoride) membranes before probing with antibodies (A) Western blots were probed with phosphospecific Ras-GRF1 (pRas-GRF1; left panel) or anti-(Ras-GRF1) Igs (Ras-GRF1; right panel) to confirm equal loading (B) Western blot of cell lysates of HEK293 cells cotransfected with the 5-HT7(a) receptor and HA-Ras-GRF1 were incubated with anti-(pRas-GRF1) Ig (upper panel) or anti-(Ras-GRF1) Ig (lower panel) to confirm equal loading (C) The same samples as in (A) and (B), but separated on 10% SDS ⁄ PAGE, were probed with phosphospecific ERK1 ⁄ antibodies (pERK1 ⁄ 2; upper panel) and subsequently with ERK1 ⁄ antibodies (ERK1 ⁄ 2; lower panel), to confirm equal loading (D) Non-transfected HEK293 cells were treated with or without 10 nM epidermal growth factor (EGF) for The proteins were separated, blotted and probed with antibodies as in (A) FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS J H Norum et al human Ras-GRF1 nucleotide sequence (NM_002891, GI:24797098) gave PCR products of expected size (Fig 1B) The primer sequences are located at the 5¢ end (ON361, ON360 and ON359) and in the middle (ON357 and ON358) of the human Ras-GRF1 nucleotide sequence Sequencing of the purified PCR products confirmed sequence identity with cDNA encoding the human 140 kDa Ras-GRF1 (data not shown) Taken together, these mRNA and protein data demonstrate that the full-length 140 kDa Ras-GRF1 protein is endogenously expressed in the HEK293 cells used for this study, and that truncated forms of Ras-GRF1 may also be present Serotonin induces phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 through 5-HT7 receptors The serine residue at position 916 in mouse Ras-GRF1 is a PKA phosphorylation site both in vitro [12] and in vivo [14], and the corresponding human residue is serine 927 We therefore used a polyclonal antibody that was generated against a synthetic phosphopeptide analogous to the Ser916 phosphorylation site, and which has previously been shown to recognize mouse and rat Ras-GRF1 when they are phosphorylated at this residue [14], to test whether serotonin may stimulate phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 in HEK293 cells that express 5-HT7 receptors HEK293 cells transfected with 5-HT7(a) receptors alone, or cotransfected with the HA-tagged mouse Ras-GRF1 (HA-Ras-GRF1), were treated with 10 lm serotonin for the indicated periods of time (Fig 2) Serotonin treatment increased the phosphorylation of the endogenous 140 kDa and  60 kDa isoforms of Ras-GRF1 (Fig 2A, left panel) and of recombinant HA-Ras-GRF1 (Fig 2B, upper panel) Phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ in the same samples was fully induced after of treatment with 10 lm serotonin (Fig 2C) Furthermore, both basal and serotonin-induced phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ was increased in cells cotransfected with HA-RasGRF1 and 5-HT7(a) receptor, compared to cells transfected with receptor only (Fig 2C) The EGF receptor induces activation of Ras through a GEF, called Sos1, in a Ca2+-independent manner Treatment of HEK293 cells with 10 nm EGF for resulted in ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation (Fig 6D) but not in phosphorylation of endogenous Ras-GRF1 at the site recognized by the antibody directed against Ras-GRF1 phosphorylated at Ser916 ⁄ 927 (Fig 2D) This indicates that ERK1 ⁄ activation induced by EGF does not increase the phosphorylation of endogenously expressed Ras-GRF1 on Ser927 EGF has similarly been reported not to increase FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 phosphorylation of endogenous Ras-GRF1 in rat brain [9] Serotonin-induced phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 is dependent on cAMP and PKA Serotonin increases adenylyl cyclase activity in HEK293 cells expressing the human Gs-coupled serotonin receptor 5-HT7 [27] Forskolin increases adenylyl cyclase activity and induces the phosphorylation of Ser916 in the mouse Ras-GRF1 sequence [12] and of Ser898 in the rat sequence [14] To test whether serotonin stimulated Ras-GRF1 phosphorylation through PKA, HEK293 cells were cotransfected with 5-HT7(a) receptors, HA-Ras-GRF1 and either empty vector or the human phosphodiesterase hPDE4D2, which indirectly reduces PKA activity by reducing cAMP levels The serotonin-induced phosphorylation of HA-Ras-GRF1 was essentially abolished and ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was reduced in cells cotransfected with hPDE4D2 (Fig 3A) The phosphorylation of overexpressed HA-Ras-GRF1 was also eliminated in cells incubated with 20 lm H89, an inhibitor of PKA but also of other kinases [28], for 25 prior to treatment with 10 lm serotonin (Fig 3B) The serotonin-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was concomitantly reduced, as expected based on the results of our previous publication [24] Cotransfection of HEK293 cells with the PKA inhibitor protein kinase inhibitor, in addition to 5-HT7(a) receptors and HA-RasGRF1, also reduced the serotonin-induced phosphorylation of recombinant HA-Ras-GRF1, as well as ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation (not shown) Phosphorylation of the endogenously expressed 140 kDa and  60 kDa isoforms of Ras-GRF1 was increased following stimulation with serotonin The  60 kDa isoform of Ras-GRF1 seems to be expressed at a higher level than the 140 kDa isoform The serotonin-induced increase in phosphorylation of both isoforms was reduced by the coexpression of hPDE4D2 with 5-HT7 receptors (Fig 3C) This was also the case for ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation (Fig 3D) Phosphorylation of Ser916 is neither necessary nor sufficient for Ras-GRF1-mediated phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ To investigate the potential role of phosphorylation at Ser916 ⁄ Ser927 of Ras-GRF1 in 5-HT7(a) receptordependent ERK1 ⁄ activation, we compared the activities of wild-type Ras-GRF1 to proteins that had single amino acid substitutions at Ser916 We also used the mutants to verify the specificity of the 2307 Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 J H Norum et al A B C D phosphoRas-GRF1 antibody The antibody to phosphoSer916-Ras-GRF1 was developed against a synthetic phosphopeptide corresponding to the residues surrounding Ser916 of mouse Ras-GRF1 and had previously been shown to be unreactive with a RasGRF1 Ser916Ala mutant protein that was expressed in COS-7 or PC12 cells [14] The antibody did not recognize HA-Ras-GRF1 proteins mutated at the Ser916 residue to alanine, aspartic acid or glutamic acid and expressed in HEK293 cells (Fig 4A) Interestingly, neither inhibiting phosphorylation of Ser916 by mutating the amino acid to alanine, nor potentially mimicking it by mutation to aspartic acid or glutamic acid, influenced the ability of recombinant HA-Ras-GRF1 to induce phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ in HEK293 cells (Fig 4B) These results suggest that the phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 at this residue may be neither necessary nor sufficient to mediate stimulation of ERK1 ⁄ activation in HEK293 cells 2308 Fig Serotonin-induced Ras-GRF1 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1 ⁄ phosphorylation is dependent on protein kinase A (PKA) ⁄ cAMP (A) Human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells cotransfected with the 5-hydroxytryptamine7(a) (5-HT7(a)) receptor, HA-Ras-GRF1, and either with or without hPDE4D2, were treated with 10 lM 5-HT for (B) HEK293 cells cotransfected with 5-HT7(a) receptor and HA-RasGRF1 were treated with or without 20 lM N-[2-(p-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide dihydrochloride (H89) for 25 prior to treatment with or without 10 lM serotonin for (C) HEK293 cells cotransfected with the 5-HT7(a) receptor and empty vector or hPDE4D2, as indicated, were treated with 10 lM serotonin for (D) The same samples as in (C) were assayed for ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation by SDS ⁄ PAGE (10% gel) and the western blot was probed with phosphospecific ERK1 ⁄ antibodies (pERK1 ⁄ 2; upper panel) and then with ERK1 ⁄ antibodies (ERK1 ⁄ 2; lower panel), to confirm equal loading The proteins were separated by SDS ⁄ PAGE (6% gel) for Ras-GRF1 and by SDS ⁄ PAGE (10% gel) for ERK1 ⁄ and electroblotted to poly(vinylidene difluoride) membranes The membranes were probed with antibodies, as indicated An intact N-terminal region is required for Ras-GRF1 to potentiate ERK1/2 activation The role of calcium in the phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ induced by Ras-GRF1 was addressed by cotransfecting HEK293 cells with 5-HT7(a) receptors and Ras-GRF1D1-225 (i.e lacking the PH1-, coiled-coil and IQ domains) Cotransfection of HEK293 cells with this truncated form of Ras-GRF1 did not increase the basal or serotonin-induced phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ compared to cells transfected with the receptor only (Fig 4B) Serotonin treatment did, however, increase the phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1-D1-225 on Ser916 (Fig 4A) Serotonin increases [Ca2+]i through 5-HT7 receptors We have previously shown that the Gs-coupled serotonin receptors 5-HT4(b) and 5-HT7(a) induce phosFEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS J H Norum et al A B Fig Mutation of Ser916 of mouse Ras-GRF1 does not alter the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1 ⁄ but deletion of amino acids 1–225 blocks the stimulatory effect of RasGRF1 Human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells transfected with the 5-hydroxytryptamine7(a) (5-HT7(a)) receptor and empty vector or with Ras-GRF1, Ras-GRF1Ser916Ala, Ras-GRF1Ser916Asp, RasGRF1Ser916Glu or Ras-GRF1-D1-225, were treated with or without 10 lM serotonin for (A) Western blots of SDS ⁄ PAGE (6% gel) of lysates of cells, transfected as indicated, were probed with anti-(pRas-GRF1) immunoglobulin (upper panel) and anti-HA-probe immunoglobulin (lower panel), to confirm equal loading (B) Western blots of SDS ⁄ PAGE (10% gel) of lysates of cells, transfected as indicated, were probed with anti-pERK1 ⁄ immunoglobulin (upper panel) and anti-ERK1 ⁄ immunoglobulin (lower panel), to confirm equal loading Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 phorylation of ERK1 ⁄ through a Ras-dependent mechanism [24] The two other known human 5-HT7 receptor splice variants (5-HT7(b) and 5-HT7(d)) also induce phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ through a Rasdependent mechanism (data not shown) Therefore, in this respect we consider the different 5-HT7 splice variants to behave similarly when expressed in HEK293 cells HEK293 cells stably expressing the 5-HT7(b) receptor (KB1 cells) were used to determine whether serotonin can increase [Ca2+]i through human 5-HT7 receptors Treatment of the KB1 cells with 10 lm serotonin resulted in a rapid, transient increase in [Ca2+]i, with a maximum of 40–60% above the basal level, whereas there was no effect of vehicle (10 lm HCl; Fig 5) To establish that the effect was mediated through the 5-HT7(b) receptors, nontransfected HEK293 cells were subjected to the same treatment; no effect of serotonin on [Ca2+]i was detected The serotonin-induced increase in [Ca2+]i was abolished by the calcium influx inhibitor, carboxyamido-triazole (CAI) (20 lm), but not by vehicle control (dimethylsulfoxide) (Fig 5, inset) These results indicate that serotonin (10 lm) can increase [Ca2+]i through the human Gs-coupled 5-HT7 receptors in HEK293 cells The exact mechanism for the serotonin-mediated increase in Ca2+ levels is not known Phosphorylation of ERK1/2, mediated through 5-HT7 receptors, is dependent on Ca2+ Transiently transfected HEK293 cells were incubated with CAI (20 lm) for 25 prior to of treat- Fig Serotonin increases intracellular Ca2+ concentration through 5-hydroxytryptamine7(b) (5-HT7(b)) receptors Non-transfected or stably transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells expressing the 5-HT7(b) receptor, KB1 cells, were cultured, washed and loaded with lM FURA-2-AM for 20 The fluorescence intensity in single cells was recorded at 340 nm and 380 nm for up to 300 s on an inverted microscope The cells were treated with 10 lM serotonin 30 s subsequent to the start of the recordings, as indicated with an arrow Inset, in addition to treatment with FURA-2-AM, as described above, the cells were treated with carboxyamido-triazole (CAI) (20 lM) or vehicle control (dimethylsulfoxide) for 25 prior to treatment with 10 lM serotonin FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS 2309 Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 ment with 10 lm serotonin Serotonin-induced phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ was markedly reduced in the presence of 20 lm CAI (Fig 6A) Serotonin-induced phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ was also reduced in cells incubated with the Ca2+ chelator, BAPTA-AM (40 lm), for 25 prior to of treatment with 10 lm serotonin (Fig 6B) Increasing the free intracellular levels of Ca2+ by treatment of HEK293 cells with thapsigargin induced phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ (Fig 6C) Previously, CAI has been shown to inhibit the thapsigargin-induced activation of ERK1 ⁄ in Rat1 cells [29] Thapsigargin-induced phosphorylation A B J H Norum et al of ERK1 ⁄ in HEK293 cells was inhibited by pretreatment with 20 lm CAI for 25 min, demonstrating that CAI inhibited the calcium-mediated phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ under these conditions (Fig 6C) To determine whether the effect of CAI on the serotonin-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was specific, HEK293 cells were treated with 20 lm CAI for 25 prior to treatment with 10 nm EGF for EGFinduced phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ was not influenced by the presence of CAI (Fig 6D), demonstrating that CAI does not have a general suppressive effect on the Ras-dependent activation of ERK1 ⁄ Increased basal ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation in the presence of HA-Ras-GRF1 is reduced by CAI and RasN17 In HEK293 cells transfected with the 5-HT7(a) receptor, cotransfection with HA-Ras-GRF1 increased basal ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation (Fig 7A, lanes and vs lane 1) Serotonin-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation in these cotransfected cells was abolished by pretreatment with CAI (Fig 7A, lanes 5–12), as in cells transA C B D C Fig Serotonin-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1 ⁄ phosphorylation is dependent on Ca2+ (A) Human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells transiently transfected with the 5-hydroxytryptamine7(a) (5-HT7(a)) receptor were treated with or without 20 lM carboxyamido-triazole (CAI) for 25 prior to treatment with or without 10 lM serotonin for min, as indicated (B) HEK293 cells, transiently transfected with the 5-HT7(a) receptor, were treated with or without 40 lM BAPTA-AM for 25 prior to incubation for with or without 10 lM serotonin (C) and (D) HEK293 cells were treated with or without lM thapsigargin (C) or 10 nM epidermal growth factor (EGF) (D) for subsequent to treatment with or without 20 lM CAI for 25 min, as indicated (A), (B), (C) and (D) show representative western blots of proteins separated by SDS ⁄ PAGE (10% gel) and electroblotted over to poly(vinylidene difluoride) membranes before probing with antibodies, as indicated 2310 Fig Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1 ⁄ 2, induced by recombinant HA-Ras-GRF1, is dependent on Ca2+ and Ras (A) Human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells cotransfected with the 5-hydroxytryptamine7(a) (5-HT7(a)) receptor and empty vector or HA-Ras-GRF1 were treated with or without 10 lM serotonin for subsequent to treatment with 20 lM carboxyamido-triazole (CAI) or vehicle for 25 min, as indicated (B) HEK293 cells transiently cotransfected with the 5-HT7(a) receptor and HA-Ras-GRF1 were treated with or without 20 lM CAI for 25 prior to treatment with or without 10 lM serotonin for (C) HEK293 cells were cotransfected with 5-HT7(a) receptor and empty vector, HA-Ras-GRF1 or RasN17, as indicated The transfected cells were treated with or without 10 lM serotonin for (A), (B) and (C) show representative western blots of 10% (A and C) and 6% (B) SDS ⁄ PAGE, probed with antibodies as indicated FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS J H Norum et al fected with the 5-HT7(a) receptor alone (Figs 6A and 7A) These results indicate that the serotonin-stimulated ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation is Ca2+ dependent There was also a slight inhibitory effect of CAI on the increased basal phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ observed upon cotransfection with HA-Ras-GRF1 (Fig 7A) On the other hand, the serotonin-induced phosphorylation of HA-Ras-GRF1 was not affected by CAI, indicating that this phosphorylation is not Ca2+ dependent (Fig 7B) To determine whether the increased ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation in cells transfected with HA-Ras-GRF1 was mediated through Ras, HEK293 cells were cotransfected with plasmids encoding the 5-HT7(a) receptor, HA-Ras-GRF1 and a dominant-negative construct of Ras, RasN17 RasN17 essentially eliminated the increase in ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation (both basal and serotonin-stimulated) induced by the overexpression of HA-Ras-GRF1 (Fig 7C), indicating that the effect of Ras-GRF1 on basal and serotonin-stimulated ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation is Ras-dependent Discussion We report the endogenous expression of several isoforms of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Ras-GRF1 in HEK293 cells Serotonin treatment of HEK293 cells, transiently transfected with the Gs-coupled 5-HT7 receptors, induced cAMP ⁄ PKA-dependent phosphorylation of endogenous Ras-GRF1 at Ser927 and recombinant mouse HA-tagged Ras-GRF1 at Ser916 However, mutation of the Ser916 PKA phosphorylation site did not alter the increased basal or serotonin-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation induced by the overexpression of HA-Ras-GRF1 A truncated version of Ras-GRF1, lacking the Ca2+ ⁄ CaM-binding IQ domain, did not increase the basal or serotonininduced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation The ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was inhibited in the presence of the calcium influx inhibitor, CAI The endogenous expression of 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 receptors has been reported in some HEK293 cells [30] However, in the current study, serotonin treatment of nontransfected HEK293 cells did not result in ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation or increased [Ca2+]i (data not shown), indicating that the HEK293 cells used did not show endogenous expression of functional 5-HT7 or other Gs-coupled serotonin receptors Ras-GRF1 contains several protein motifs that are presumably involved in numerous regulatory mechanisms Binding of Ca2+ ⁄ CaM to the N-terminal IQ motif is considered to be the main mechanism for Ras-GRF1 activation [10] Upon stimulation of FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 GPCRs Ras-GRF1 becomes phosphorylated on several sites, with incompletely understood effects The Ser916 residue of mouse Ras-GRF1 becomes phosphorylated by PKA in vivo and in vitro [12] This phosphorylation is insufficient for activation but may enhance the activity of Ras-GRF1 towards Ras [12,14] The phosphospecific antibody that selectively recognizes mouse and rat Ras-GRF1, which are phosphorylated at Ser916 ⁄ 898, respectively, also recognizes human phosphorylated Ras-GRF1 The sequence surrounding Ser927 in human Ras-GRF1 is homologous to that surrounding Ser916 in mouse Ras-GRF1, with three amino acid substitutions In addition, several other putative phosphorylation sites have been identified in Ras-GRF1 Baouz and colleagues, for example, did not find Ser916 as an in vitro PKA phosphorylation site [13], but rather identified Ser745 and Ser822 as the two most heavily phosphorylated residues However, compared with the human Ser927 sequence, the sequences surrounding these two serine residues not align as well with the mouse Ser916 sequence Therefore, the phosphospecific antibody developed against mouse phosphoSer916-Ras-GRF1 probably recognizes human Ras-GRF1 phosphorylated at Ser927 The antibody is highly specific for the phosphorylated residue, as mutations of Ser916 (in the mouse sequence) to alanine, aspartic acid or glutamic acid were not recognized by the antibody Our finding, that reactivity of the endogenous Ras-GRF1 in HEK293 cells to the phospho-Ras-GRF1 antibody is stimulated by the activation of 5-HT7 receptors, is also consistent with the selective recognition of human Ras-GRF1 by this antibody when Ras-GRF1 is phosphorylated at Ser927 The serotonin-induced phosphorylation of both endogenous and recombinant Ras-GRF1 shows that Ras-GRF1 is modified by stimulation with serotonin, but is not direct evidence that Ras-GRF1 contributes to the serotonin-induced activation of Ras and ERK1 ⁄ Pretreatment with H89 eliminated the serotonin-induced phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 at Ser916 ⁄ 927 Transfection with the human phosphodiesterase PDE4D2 also reduced the serotonin-induced Ras-GRF1 phosphorylation In both cases, the serotonin-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was lowered concomitant with the reduced Ras-GRF1 phosphorylation, but ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was only partially reduced compared to the more substantial reduction of Ras-GRF1 phosphorylation Neither preventing PKA-mediated phosphorylation of mouse Ras-GRF1 Ser916 by mutating this residue to alanine nor mutating the residue to either aspartic or glutamic acid to potentially mimic the phosphorylation, influenced the increased basal or serotonin2311 Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation Taken together, these data indicate that the PKA-mediated phosphorylation of Ser916 of mouse Ras-GRF1, and presumably Ser927 of human Ras-GRF1, does not have a central role in ERK1 ⁄ activation The small differences in Ras activation observed between wild-type Ras-GRF1 and the Ser916Ala mutant, both in vitro [12] and in an assay of Ras-dependent neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells [14], may not be detectable at the level of ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation owing to amplification of the signal through the kinase cascade These results are also in agreement with our previous report that phosphorylation at this site was insufficient to activate Ras-GRF1 in the absence of other signals [12] It is probable that phosphorylation at this site is only one of several regulated phosphorylation events that occur on Ras-GRF1 to regulate its activity in coordination with increases in Ca2+, and so an effect from the mutation of a single site may not be apparent The importance of phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1 at this residue is underlined by the demonstration that it is a physiologically relevant phosphorylation event which occurs at the equivalent site (Ser898) in the dendritic tree of rat prefrontal cortical neurones [14] In addition to regulation of the Ras GEF activity of Ras-GRF1, other phosphorylation events, particularly on tyrosine residues, may regulate its activity as a GEF for another small G-protein, Rac [31] Expression of recombinant, murine, HA-tagged RasGRF1 (HA-Ras-GRF1) in HEK293 cells increased the basal ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation compared to that of nontransfected cells Serotonin caused additional phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ in HEK293 cells cotransfected with the 5-HT7(a) receptor and HA-Ras-GRF1, but the combined effect of 5-HT7(a) activation and HA-RasGRF1 expression was not much higher than the sum of the separate effects on ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation If endogenous Ras-GRF1 was the limiting factor in the cascade from the 5-HT7(a) receptor to ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation, one might expect that the overexpression of HA-Ras-GRF1 would elicit greater effects than observed on ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation On the other hand, if endogenous Ras-GRF1 was not the limiting factor in the cascade, one could hypothesize that the effect of Ras-GRF1 overexpression on ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation would be similar to the sum of the receptor-induced effect and increased basal phosphorylation, mediated from overexpressed Ras-GRF1, possibly localized in different cellular compartments from the receptor The increased ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation in the presence of HA-Ras-GRF1 was essentially eliminated in the presence of dominant-negative Ras, RasN17, but 2312 J H Norum et al only slightly reduced by the Ca2+ influx inhibitor, CAI Both interventions prevented the serotonininduced phosphorylation of ERK1 ⁄ A truncated version of Ras-GRF1 (Ras-GRF1-D1-225) lacking the PH1-, coiled-coil and IQ domain and thus not expected to bind Ca2+ ⁄ CaM, did not increase the basal or serotonin-induced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation The reduced ability of Ras-GRF1-D1-225 to induce ERK1 ⁄ activation may be a result of the lost Ca2+ ⁄ CaM-binding site of the IQ domain, but the missing PH1- and coiled-coil domains may also change the subcellular localization of this version of RasGRF1 These domains have been shown to contribute to the regulation of Ras GEF activity [32] The serotonin-induced phosphorylation of Ras-GRF1-D1-225 at Ser916 indicates that the protein is located in cellular compartments within the reach of kinases activated upon serotonin treatment We have previously shown that while increased intracellular Ca2+ is required for the stimulation of Ras-GRF1 activation by a Gi-coupled pathway [12], Ca2+ does not stimulate Ras-GRF1 phosphorylation at Ser916 [14] It is probable that Ras-GRF1 can serve to integrate signals from the cAMP and Ca2+ second messenger cascades to determine activation of the ERK1 ⁄ cascade In addition to the influence of second messengers and phosphorylation events on its activities, Ras-GRF1 can also be regulated by interaction with another small GTPase, Cdc42 [33], and can serve a scaffolding function that directs signalling downstream of Ras activation [34,35] In rat adrenal glomerulosa cells, 5-HT7 receptors were shown to increase [Ca2+]i through T-type Ca2+ channels in a cAMP ⁄ PKA-dependent manner [22,23] Increase in [Ca2+]i following stimulation of overexpressed 5-HT7(a) receptors in HEK293 cells has previously been shown [36] and no evidence of coupling to Gq or Gi was found We showed that serotonin stimulation of HEK293 cells stably expressing 5-HT7(b) receptors resulted in increased [Ca2+]i Serotonininduced ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was severely reduced in the presence of CAI, but the PKA-dependent phosphorylation of HA-Ras-GRF1 was not influenced by the presence of CAI In nonexcitable cells, CAI can specifically inhibit store-operated calcium channels and may thereby reduce the serotonininduced sustained increase in [Ca2+]i, as has been shown for endothelin-1-induced Ca2+ increase in Rat1 cells [29] Whether HEK293 cells express T-type Ca2+ channels, or whether the increase in [Ca2+]i is mediated through a different mechanism, has not been addressed further in this study, and the results obtained with the calcium influx inhibitor, CAI, not provide conclusive data concerning the nature of the calcium increase FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS J H Norum et al Ras-GRF1 is implicated in signalling from various neurotransmitter receptors [9,12,37] The downstream target of Ras-GRF1, Ras, may help to regulate expression of specific genes involved in processes such as memory In Aplysia, the activation of MAP kinases by Gs-coupled serotonin receptors is implicated in memory formation [38,39] There is increasing evidence for the biological importance of the Ras ⁄ MAP kinase cascade in human learning and memory [40] Gs-coupled serotonin receptors are found in the hippocampus [41,42], and 5-HT7 receptors activate ERK1 ⁄ in cultured neurones [43] Ras-GRF1 is highly expressed in hippocampal and other neurones, and Ras-GRF1-deficient mice have memory defects [44,45] Therefore, a possible involvement of Ras-GRF1 in the Ca2+- and Ras-dependent activation of ERK1 ⁄ through 5-HT7 receptors may be of physiological relevance Since the original manuscript was submitted for publication, Johnson-Farley and colleagues have shown interplay between Gs- and Gq-coupled serotonin receptors in the activation of ERK1 ⁄ and PKB (Akt) in PC12 cells [46] They found that PKA activation through Gs-coupled serotonin receptors was Ca2+ dependent, whereas ERK1 ⁄ phosphorylation was Ca2+ independent Considering all the different pathways reported for the activation of Ras and ERK1 ⁄ downstream of GPCRs, Ras-GRF1 could be one of possibly several GEFs involved in the activation of Ras and subsequently ERK1 ⁄ downstream of Gs-coupled serotonin receptors This remains a challenge for future research Experimental procedures Materials HEK293 cells were from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA, USA) Mouse monoclonal antiphospho-ERK1 ⁄ and rabbit polyclonal anti-(phosphoSer916Ras-GRF1) Ig (#3321) were from Cell Signaling Technology (Beverly, MA, USA), sheep polyclonal antimouse immunoglobulin–horseradish peroxidase conjugate (Ig-HRP) and sheep anti-(rabbit IgG)–HRP were from Amersham Pharmacia Biotech (Little Chalfont, Bucks, UK), rabbit polyclonal anti-ERK1 ⁄ Ig was from Upstate Biotechnology (Lake Placid, NY, USA), and rabbit polyclonal anti-(Ras-GRF1) Ig (human, rat) was from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA, USA) 5-HT, EGF, H89 and Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) were from Sigma (St Louis, MO, USA) Hybond-P [poly(vinylidene difluoride)] membrane was from Amersham LipofectamineTM 2000 was from Invitrogen (Carlsbad, CA, USA) Fetal bovine serum was from EuroClone (Milano, Italy) UltraCULTURETM general purpose serum-free medium, penicillin ⁄ streptomycin and l-glu- FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 2304–2316 ª 2005 FEBS Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 tamine were from Cambrex (Vervierse, Belgium) Supersignal West Dura extended-duration chemiluminescent substrate was from Pierce Biotechnology (Rockford, IL, USA), and the BC assay protein quantification kit was from Uptima (Monticon, France) BAPTA-AM was from Calbiochem (La Jolla, CA, USA) Plasmids The pcDNA3.1(–) vector (Invitrogen), encoding the human 5-HT7(a) receptor, was as described previously [27] The pKH3 mammalian expression plasmids encoding the fulllength murine wild-type HA-Ras-GRF1 and the Ser916Ala mutant were as described previously [9,12,47] HA-RasGRF1-Ser916Asp, HA-Ras-GRF1-Ser916Glu and HA-RasGRF1-D1-225 were constructed by PCR using appropriate mutagenic primers and the protocol previously described [12] and then confirmed by DNA sequencing The pCMV vector encoding dominant-negative Ras, RasN17, was from Clontech (Palo Alto, CA, USA) The pCMV5 vector encoding the human phosphodiesterase 4D2, hPDE4D2, was provided by M Conti (Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Stanford, CA, USA) Cell culture and transfection HEK293 cells were cultured in DMEM containing 10% (v ⁄ v) fetal bovine serum and supplements (2 mm l-glutamine, 100 mL)1 penicillin, 100 lgỈmL)1 streptomycin), at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air, and transfected at 60–70% confluence with the indicated cDNA(s) using Lipofectamine 2000, according to the manufacturer’s protocol When necessary, empty vector [pcDNA3.1(–)] was included in the transfection to ensure that each dish received the same amount of DNA (1.0 or 2.9 lg of plasmid DNA per 35 or 60 mm dish, respectively) Cells expressing 5-HT7 receptors were cultured in UltraCULTURETM serum-free medium with supplements, as described above, prior to starvation in DMEM without serum for the last 16–20 h before serotonin treatment and lysis ( 48 h after transfection for transiently transfected cells) Nontransfected cells were similarly starved in DMEM without serum before treatment (with EGF or thapsigargin) and lysis Where indicated, cells were preincubated with 20 lm H89, 20 lm CAI or 40 lm BAPTA-AM for 25 prior to treatment with agonist Cells were stimulated for if not indicated otherwise All experiments were carried out in duplicate at least three times, if not otherwise indicated Western Blotting Equal amounts of cell lysate proteins were separated by SDS ⁄ PAGE and electroblotted onto poly(vinylidene difluoride) membranes The membranes were incubated with pri- 2313 Ras-GRF1 and Ras-dependent ERK activation in HEK293 J H Norum et al mary antibodies [anti-(phospho-ERK1 ⁄ 2), : 2000, v ⁄ v; anti-ERK1 ⁄ 2, : 10 000, v ⁄ v; anti-(phospho-Ras-GRF1), : 1000, v ⁄ v; and anti-(Ras-GRF1), : 1000, v ⁄ v] in NaCl ⁄ Pi containing 5% (w ⁄ v) nonfat dry milk and 0.05% (v ⁄ v) Tween 20, and thereafter incubated with the corresponding HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies The immobilized HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies were visualized with SuperSignal Dura West extended-duration chemiluminescent substrate and analysed with a UVP BioChemie system isolate mRNA from the pool of total RNA The purified mRNA was used for oligo-dT primed cDNA synthesis The cDNA was treated with RNase H to remove RNA complementary to the cDNA The purified cDNA was used as substrate in PCR with the following Ras-GRF1 gene-specific primers: ON357, 5¢-TGAAACATCACCAACTAAATC TCCAA-3¢; ON358, 5¢-GACGACTCCATTGTTATAGG AAAAGAGT-3¢; ON359, 5¢-GCCGCTGGAGAAACAG CAT-3¢; ON360, 5¢-GCCACCCATTCGTCACAATC-3¢; and ON361, 5¢-ATGCAGAAGGGGATCCGG-3¢ Phospho-ERK1 ⁄ and phospho-Ras-GRF1 assay Direct measurements of [Ca2+]i in single cells The cells were cultured in 35 mm dishes, transfected and stimulated with agonist as described, lysed in ice-cold cell lysis buffer [1% (w ⁄ v) SDS, mm Na3VO4, 50 mm Tris ⁄ HCl, pH 7.4, at room temperature], scraped with a Teflon cell scraper, sheared through a 25 GA syringe and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen The thawed cell lysates were cleared by centrifugation (13 000 g at °C) and the protein concentrations in the supernatants were quantified by the BC assay quantification kit (Uptima) using BSA as the standard Equal amounts of protein were prepared for separation by SDS ⁄ PAGE Non-transfected HEK293 cells and HEK293 cells stably transfected with the 5-HT7(b) receptor (KB1 cells) were plated and cultured in specially designed glass-bottomed wells [48] coated with 12.7 lgỈcm)2 collagen type VII from rat tail At 70–80% confluence, the cells were washed at 37 °C with Hepes-buffered salt solution (HSS; 136 mm NaCl, mm KCl, 1.2 mm MgCl2, 1.2 mm CaCl2, 11 mm Bacto-dextrose, 10 mm Hepes, pH 7.35) and incubated with lm FURA-2-AM in HSS for 20 at room temperature The cells were washed once at 37 °C with HSS buffer prior to mounting the cell culture dish on an inverted Nikon microscope equipped with digital recording facilities Recordings of the fluorescence intensities started 30 s prior to the addition of vehicle or serotonin solution The fluorescence intensity of FURA-2 at excitation wavelength 340 nm (F340) increases, whereas the fluorescence intensity at 380 nm (F380) decreases upon the binding of Ca2+ The change in the ratio of F340 ⁄ F380 determined the change in Ca2+ concentration inside the cell Immunoprecipitation HEK293 cells were cultured in 60 mm dishes and grown as described above, lysed in ice-cold lysis buffer and the lysate cleared by centrifugation (13 000 g at °C) Samples containing 200 lg of protein were diluted in ice-cold · IP buffer [10 mm Tris ⁄ HCl, pH 7.4 at room temperature, 150 mm NaCl, mm EDTA, mm EGTA, 0.2 mm Na3VO4, 0.2 mm phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, 1% (v ⁄ v) Triton X-100, 0.5% (v ⁄ v) Nonidet P-40) to a final volume of mL and incubated for h at °C with or without (control) polyclonal anti-Ras-GRF1 immunoglobulin and subsequently with sheep anti-rabbit paramagnetic beads (Dynal, Oslo, Norway) overnight at °C on a tumbler The beads with the bound proteins were washed three times with cold · IP buffer The proteins were eluted from the beads by boiling for in 1· SDS ⁄ PAGE loading buffer [31 mm Tris ⁄ HCl, pH 6.8 at room temperature, 1% (w ⁄ v) SDS, 2.5% (v ⁄ v) glycerol, 0.025% (w ⁄ v) bromophenol blue, 2.5% (v ⁄ v) b-mercaptoethanol] The protein samples were loaded and resolved on 6% (w ⁄ v) SDS ⁄ polyacrylamide gels Western blotting was performed as described above Acknowledgements This work was supported by The Norwegian Council on Cardiovascular Diseases, The Norwegian Cancer Society, The Research Council of Norway, The Novo Nordisk Foundation, Anders Jahre’s Foundation for the Promotion of Science, The Blix Family Foundation and grants from the University of Oslo and the National Cancer Institute of the USA (R01-CA81150) The experiments were performed in accordance with all regulations concerning biomedical research in Norway We thank Dr Marco Conti for generating and providing the plasmid encoding hPDE4D2 and thank Dr Jens-Gustav Iversen for help with the calcium measurements Isolation of mRNA, and PCR Total RNA from HEK293 cells, cultured as described above, was isolated by using the SV total RNA isolation system 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exchange factor Ras-GRF1 in HEK293 cells Serotonin treatment of HEK293 cells, transiently transfected with the Gs-coupled 5-HT7 receptors, induced cAMP ⁄ PKA-dependent