Indomethacin shifts the peak of c-fos, egr-1, and c-myc gene expression in confluent fibroblasts induced by phorbol myristate acetate.

Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) can induce transcription of a number of "early" genes in quiescent fibroblasts, although the biochemical steps intervening between activation of protein kinase c and changes in gene-regulatory proteins are only partially known. To investigate these pathways further, we have studied the effect of indomethacin (INDO) on the induction of expression by PMA of three early genes (c-fos, egr-1 and c-myc) in quiescent BALB/c 3T3 cells. INDO was found to markedly change the kinetics of PMA-induced c-fos and egr-1 gene expression, as measured by Northern analysis.