Increased synthesis of phosphocholine is required for UV-induced AP-1 activation

Exposure of mammalian cells to UV irradiation stimulates phosphatidylcholine hydrolysis and activates the transcription factor AP-1. Since phosphocholine (PCho), a phospholipid metabolite, is a potential regulator of mitogenesis and carcinogenesis, we examined the effect of UV exposure on the formation of PCho and the possible mediatory role of PCho in UVB-and UVC-induced activation of AP-1 in mouse JB6 epidermal cells. We found that both UVB and UVC irradiation resulted in increased PCho levels. Hemicholinium-3 (HC-3), an inhibitor of choline kinase, strongly inhibited UV-induced AP-1 activity. By contrast, relatively low levels of PCho (80 mu M) or choline (20 mu M) nearly doubled UV-induced AP-1 activity, while higher (2-20 mM) concentrations of PCho alone stimulated AP-1 activity 6-8-fold. Importantly, HC-3 inhibited only the stimulatory effect of choline, but not of PCho, on AP-1 activity. Of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases involved in the regulation of AP-1 activity, UVC stimulated the MAP kinase family ERK-1/ERK-2, JNK as well as p38 kinase activity. These UVC effects were all inhibited by HC-3. With UVB, by contrast, only the activation of ERK-1/ERK-2 was inhibited by HC-3. The data suggest that increased formation of PCho is required for UV-induced activation of AP-1 by an ERK-1/ERK-2-dependent mechanism.