Activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt limits FGF-2-induced VEGF release in osteoblasts

We previously reported that basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) activates stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (SAPK/JNK) and p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, resulting in the release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. In the present study, we investigated the role of Akt/protein kinase B in the FGF-2-stimulated VEGF release in these cells. FGF-2 time-dependently induced the phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3β, a downstream element of Akt. The Akt inhibitor, 1L-6-hydroxymethyl-chiro-inositol 2-(R)-2-O-methyl-3-O-octadecylcarbonate, significantly amplified the FGF-2-induced VEGF release, in a dose-dependent manner between 1 and 70 μM, while it suppressed the FGF-2-induced phosphorylation of GSK-3β. The phosphorylation of Akt induced by FGF-2 was markedly attenuated by wortmannin and LY294002, inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. Both wortmannin and LY294002 enhanced the FGF-2-induced VEGF release. In addition, Akt inhibitor had no significant effect on the FGF-2-induced phosphorylation of p44/p42 MAP kinase and SAPK/JNK. Furthermore, the FGF-2-induced Akt phosphorylation was not affected by PD98059, a MEK inhibitor, or SP600125, a SAPK/JNK inhibitor. Taken together, our findings strongly suggest that PI3-kinase/Akt plays an inhibitory role in FGF-2-induced VEGF release in osteoblasts.