Activation of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1 and ERK2) by FGF-2 and PDGF-BB in Normal Human Osteoblastic and Bone Marrow Stromal Cells: Differences in Mobility and In-Gel Renaturation of ERK1 in Human, Rat, and Mouse Osteoblastic Cells

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We recently demonstrated that basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) and platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) mainly activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) in normal human osteoblastic (HOB) and bone marrow stromal (HBMS) cells by an “in-gel” MAP kinase assay, although both ERK1 and ERK2 proteins were present. In the present study, we examined whether ERK1 is also activated by growth factors by using three different MAPK assay procedures, an “in-gel MAP kinase assay,” an immune-complex kinase assay, and western blotting with anti-active MAPK antibody which recognizes specifically activated forms of both ERK1 and ERK2. Results have demonstrated that in addition to ERK2, ERK1 is activated by FGF-2 and PDGF-BB in normal HOB and HBMS cells. The human ERK1 moved faster on SDS-polyacrylamide gel compared to rat and mouse, revealing differences in the apparent molecular weight of ERK1 in normal human osteoblastic and bone marrow osteoprogenitor cells, human (TE-85) and rat (ROS 17/2.8 and UMR-106) osteosarcoma, and mouse (MC3T3-E1) osteoblastic cells. ERK1 is less stable in the in-gel renaturation process compared to ERK2; thus, in-gel MAP kinase assay does not provide an accurate estimation of ERK1 activity. Results also showed that anti-active MAPK antibody can be used reliably and accurately to measure the activation of ERK1 and ERK2 in osteoblastic cells.