Activation of Raf by ionizing radiation

THE critical pathways through which ionizing radiation induces malignant transformation and cell death are not well defined. Raf-1, a cytoplasmic serine-threonine protein kinase, mediates the transmission of mitogenic signals initiated at the cell membrane to the nucleus, resulting in the activation of transcription factors that regulate cell growth and proliferation(1,2). Moreover, Raf-1 overexpression and activation increases the survival response of mammalian cells to the toxic effects of ionizing radiation by an as-yet unknown mechanism (refs 3, 4 and V. Soldatenkov et al.; manuscript submitted), Somewhat analogous to mitogen-induced signalling, radiation stimulates protein-tyrosine kinase(s) and transcription factors(5,6). No direct biochemical link has been established, however, between radiation-stimulated protein tyrosine phosphorylation and downstream signals. Here we report a series of radiation-responsive events in which protein-tyrosine phosphorylation is followed by membrane recruitment, then tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of Raf-1 in vivo. Our results show that radiation-stimulated protein-tyrosine kinase(s) modify Raf-1, and implicate Raf-1 in the ionizing-radiation signal-transduction pathway.