The 27-kDa heat shock protein (HSP27) is expressed in a variety of tissues in the absence of stress and is thought to regulate actin filament dynamics, possibly by a phosphorylation/dephosphorylation mechanism. HSP27 has also been suggested to be involved in contraction of intestinal smooth muscle. We have investigated phosphorylation of HSP27 in airway smooth muscle in response to the muscarinic agonist carbachol. Carbachol increased 32P incorporation into canine tracheal HSP27 and induced a shift in the distribution of charge isoforms on two-dimensional gels to more acidic, phosphorylated forms. The canine HSP27 amino acid sequence includes three serine residues corresponding to sites in human HSP27 known to be phosphorylated by mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein (MAPKAP) kinase-2. To determine whether muscarinic receptors are coupled to a "stress response" pathway in smooth muscle culminating in phosphorylation of HSP27, we assayed MAPKAP kinase-2 activity and tyrosine phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, the enzyme thought to activate MAPKAP kinase-2. Recombinant canine HSP27 expressed in Escherichia coli was a substrate for MAPKAP kinase-2 in vitro as well as a substrate for endogenous smooth muscle HSP27 kinase, which was activated by carbachol. Carbachol also increased tyrosine phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase. SB-203580, an inhibitor of p38 MAP kinases, reduced activation of endogenous HSP27 kinase activity and blocked the shift in HSP27 charge isoforms to acidic forms. We suggest that HSP27 in airway smooth muscle, in addition to being a stress response protein, is phosphorylated by a receptor-initiated signaling cascade involving muscarinic receptors, tyrosine phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase, and activation of MAPKAP kinase-2.