ERK2 prohibits apoptosis-induced subcellular translocation of orphan nuclear receptor NGFI-B/TR3

Transcription factor NGFI-B ( neuronal growth factor-induced clone B), also called Nur77 or TR3, is an immediate early gene and an orphan member of the nuclear receptor family. The NGFI-B protein also has a function distinct from that of a transcription factor; it translocates to mitochondria to initiate apoptosis. Recently, it was demonstrated that NGFI-B interacts with Bcl-2 by inducing a conformational change in Bcl-2, converting it from protector to a killer (Lin, B., Kolluri, S. K., Lin, F., Liu, W., Han, Y. H., Cao, X., Dawson, M. I., Reed, J. C., and Zhang, X. K. ( 2004) Cell 116, 527 - 540). After exposing rat cerebellar granule neurons to glutamate ( 100 muM, 15 min), NGFI-B translocated to the mitochondria. Growth factors such as the epidermal growth factor activate the MAP kinase ERK, the activity of which may determine whether a cell survives or undergoes apoptosis. In the present study we found that the epidermal growth factor activated ERK2 in cerebellar granule neurons and that this activation prohibited glutamate-induced subcellular translocation of NGFI-B. Likewise, overexpressed active ERK2 resulted in a predominant nuclear localization of green fluorescent protein-tagged NGFI-B. Thus, activation of ERK2 may overcome apoptosis-induced subcellular translocation of NGFI-B. This finding represents a novel and rapid growth factor survival pathway that is independent of gene regulation.