Possible involvement of a GTP-binding protein in a late event during endogenous ganglioside-modulated cellular proliferation.

The B subunit of cholera toxin, a protein which binds specifically to ganglioside GM1 on the cell surface, stimulates DNA synthesis in quiescent Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts as measured by an increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation. Pertussis toxin pretreatment markedly inhibits B subunit-induced DNA synthesis. The inhibitory effects of pertussis toxin were observed even in the presence of insulin which greatly potentiates the mitogenic response to the B subunit. Treatment with either pertussis toxin or insulin did not alter the binding of the B subunit to the cells. The dose-response for pertussis toxin-induced inhibition of DNA synthesis correlated closely with the dose-response for ADP-ribosylation of a 41-kDa membrane protein, suggesting the involvement of a GTP-binding protein that is a substrate for pertussis toxin (Gi) in mitogenesis induced via cross-linking of endogenous gangliosides. Pertussis toxin, in a similar concentration-dependent manner, also inhibited the mitogenic response to unfractionated fetal calf serum and to bombesin in the absence or presence of insulin. The inhibitory effect of pertussis toxin was clearly unrelated to any effects on known G proteins coupled to adenylate cyclase or phospholipase C. In addition, pertussis toxin did not impair the early increase in cytosolic free Ca2+ induced by the B subunit or bombesin. Pertussis toxin-induced inhibition of DNA synthesis could still be observed even when the toxin was added as late as 6 h after addition of the growth-promoting agents. This suggests the involvement of a GTP-binding protein in a late step of the B subunit- and bombesin-mediated pathways of mitogenesis. The possibility that other growth factors bypass this pathway is shown by their lack of sensitivity to pertussis toxin.