The P2Y2 nucleotide receptor mediates vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression through interaction with VEGF receptor-2 (KDR/Flk-1)

UTP stimulates the expression of pro-inflammatory vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in endothelial cells through activation of the P2Y(2) nucleotide receptor P2Y(2)R. Here, we demonstrated that activation of the P2Y(2)R induced rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-2 in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC). RNA interference targeting VEGFR-2 or inhibition of VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinase activity abolishes P2Y(2)R-mediated VCAM-1 expression. Furthermore, VEGFR-2 and the P2Y(2)R co-localize upon UTP stimulation. Deletion or mutation of two Src homology-3-binding sites in the C-terminal tail of the P2Y(2)R or inhibition of Src kinase activity abolished the P2Y(2)R-mediated transactivation of VEGFR-2 and subsequently inhibited UTP-induced VCAM-1 expression. Moreover, activation of VEGFR-2 by UTP leads to the phosphorylation of Vav2, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rho family GTPases. Using a binding assay to measure the activity of the small GTPases Rho, we found that stimulation of HCAEC by UTP increased the activity of RhoA and Rac1 (but not Cdc42). Significantly, a dominant negative form of RhoA inhibited P2Y(2)R-mediated VCAM-1 expression, whereas expression of dominant negative forms of Cdc42 and Rac1 had no effect. These data indicate a novel mechanism whereby a nucleotide receptor transactivates a receptor tyrosine kinase to generate an inflammatory response associated with atherosclerosis.