The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, classically associated with cell growth and dependent on tyrosine kinases such as MAPK kinase (MEK), can modulate smooth muscle contractility, and our laboratory has tested the hypothesis that 5-HT can activate the MAPK pathway in arterial smooth muscle through activation of a 5-HT2A receptor. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors including genistein and the specific MEK inhibitor PD098059, but not the inactive tyrosine kinase congener daidzein reduced and shifted 5-HT-induced contraction rightward in isolated, endothelium-denuded rat arteries. Activation of a tyrosine kinase/MEK via the 5-HT2A receptor was partially independent of two major signaling pathways typically associated with the 5-HT2A receptor--activation of L-type voltage gated calcium channels and phospholipase C. Western analyses using antibodies directed against tyrosyl-phosphorylated-, activated Erk MAPK, and MEK proteins from cultured aortic smooth muscle cells demonstrated that 5-HT activated MEK and the Erk MAPKs in a time-, concentration-, receptor- and tyrosine kinase-dependent manner. Taken together, these findings provide evidence for a novel pathway of vascular signal transduction--activation of the MAPK pathway--for the 5-HT2A receptor.