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Query: EC:2.7.10.1 (
ERK
)
95,504
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are rapidly phosphorylated and activated in response to a variety of extracellular stimuli in many different cell types. The kinases that activate MAPK, the MAPK/
ERK
Kinases (MEKs), are also activated by phosphorylation. We have studied the influence of specific oncogenes on the regulation of MEK activity in NIH3T3 and Rat1a fibroblasts. We show that a similar MEK activity phosphorylates and activates MAPK in both growth factor-stimulated (epidermal growth factor and thrombin) and oncogene (gip2, v-src, and v-raf)-transfected cells. Gip2 and v-Src activated MEK-1 in transfected Rat 1a cells, whereas v-Raf activated MEK-1 in transfected NIH3T3 cells. These cell-selective differences in MEK activation parallel constitutive MAPK activation in these cell lines. Stable expression of the v-ras oncogene resulted in little constitutive MEK activation in either cell line, even though both were highly transformed. The growth factor and oncoprotein regulated MEK activity co-fractionated by Mono S chromatography with the 45-kDa MEK-1 protein. We further demonstrate in NIH3T3 and Rat 1a cells that
Raf-1
is activated, as measured by its ability to phosphorylate MEK-1, in response to epidermal growth factor but not thrombin. Thus, the regulatory network of protein kinases that activate MAPK converges at MEK but diverges with the kinases that phosphorylate and activate MEK.
...
PMID:Activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase by G protein and tyrosine kinase oncoproteins. 839 52
Raf-1
is a serine/threonine kinase which is essential in cell growth and differentiation. Tyrosine kinase oncogenes and receptors and p21ras can activate
Raf-1
, and recent studies have suggested that
Raf-1
functions upstream of MEK (MAP/
ERK
kinase), which phosphorylates and activates
ERK
. To determine whether or not
Raf-1
directly activates MEK, we developed an in vitro assay with purified recombinant proteins. Epitope-tagged versions of
Raf-1
and MEK and kinase-inactive mutants of each protein were expressed in Sf9 cells, and ERK1 was purified as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein from bacteria.
Raf-1
purified from Sf9 cells which had been coinfected with v-src or v-ras was able to phosphorylate kinase-active and kinase-inactive MEK. A kinase-inactive version of
Raf-1
purified from cells that had been coinfected with v-src or v-ras was not able to phosphorylate MEK.
Raf-1
phosphorylation of MEK activated it, as judged by its ability to stimulate the phosphorylation of myelin basic protein by glutathione S-transferase-ERK1. We conclude that MEK is a direct substrate of
Raf-1
and that the activation of MEK by
Raf-1
is due to phosphorylation by
Raf-1
, which is sufficient for MEK activation. We also tested the ability of protein kinase C to activate
Raf-1
and found that, although protein kinase C phosphorylation of
Raf-1
was able to stimulate its autokinase activity, it did not stimulate its ability to phosphorylate MEK.
...
PMID:Reconstitution of the Raf-1-MEK-ERK signal transduction pathway in vitro. 841 57
Protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) of the JAK family have been characterized on the basis of their ability to mediate the rapid induction of transcription of interferon-responsive genes through the stimulation of a class of latent cytoplasmic transcription factors known as signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs). STAT activation, which has been described as being Ras-independent, requires tyrosine phosphorylation, but STAT transactivating activity is enhanced by phosphorylation on serine as well, probably by extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase(s) (
ERK
/MAPK). STATs can be activated upon binding of ligands to receptor PTKs, to G-protein-linked receptors, and to cytokine receptors. Whether JAKs are required for the activation of signaling pathways other than that leading to STAT activation is not known. The binding of growth hormone (GH) to its receptor (GHR) activates JAK2 and STATs as well as
ERK
/MAP kinases. We have used a transient transfection system in 293 cells to evaluate the requirement for JAK2 in the activation of ERK2/MAPK by GH. We found that JAK2 is required for GH-simulated activation of ERK2/MAPK. Employing the transient expression of dominant negative forms of H-Ras and
Raf-1
, we determined that the GHR/JAK2-mediated activation of ERK2/MAPK is dependent on both Ras and Raf. Thus, JAK protein-tyrosine kinases may represent a common component in the activation of the ERK2/MAPK and STAT signaling pathways, which appear to bifurcate upstream of Ras activation but converge with
ERK
/MAPK phosphorylation of STATs.
...
PMID:JAK2, Ras, and Raf are required for activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase by growth hormone. 853 33
TCR engagement stimulates the activation of the protein kinase
Raf-1
. Active
Raf-1
phosphorylates and activates the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase 1 (MEK1), which in turn phosphorylates and activates the MAP kinases/extracellular signal regulated kinases, ERK1 and ERK2.
Raf-1
activity promotes IL-2 production in activated T lymphocytes. Therefore, we sought to determine whether MEK1 and
ERK
activities also stimulate IL-2 gene transcription. Expression of constitutively active
Raf-1
or MEK1 in Jurkat T cells enhanced the stimulation of IL-2 promoter-driven transcription stimulated by a calcium ionophore and PMA, and together with a calcium ionophore the expression of each protein was sufficient to stimulate NF-AT activity. Expression of MEK1-interfering mutants inhibited the stimulation of IL-2 promoter-driven transcription and blocked the ability of constitutively active Ras and
Raf-1
to costimulate NF-AT activity with a calcium ionophore. Expression of the MAP kinase-specific phosphatase, MKP-1, which blocks
ERK
activation, inhibited IL-2 promoter and NF-AT-driven transcription stimulated by a calcium ionophore and PMA, and in addition, MKP-1 neutralized the transcriptional enhancement caused by active
Raf-1
and MEK1 expression. We conclude that the MAP kinase signal transduction pathway consisting of
Raf-1
, MEK1, and ERK1 and ERK2 functions in the stimulation IL-2 gene transcription in activated T lymphocytes.
...
PMID:MEK1 and the extracellular signal-regulated kinases are required for the stimulation of IL-2 gene transcription in T cells. 855 75
Expression of polyomavirus middle-T antigen (middle-T) is involved in the formation of various tumors in vivo, e.g. hemangiomas and mammary gland tumors. Several genes have been shown to be activated in middle-T-expressing cells, but the underlying mechanisms have only been partially elucidated. Among the genes regulated by middle-T, the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) gene seems to be of primary importance for the development of the transformed phenotype. We have found that the uPA gene is highly expressed in eEnd2 cells derived from a hemangioma expressing middle-T. NIH3T3 cells show negligible levels of uPA mRNA but its expression was highly induced by infecting with a middle-T-expressing retrovirus. Middle-T did not affect uPA mRNA stability. Transient cotransfection experiments using a uPA-receptor gene construct and a middle-T expression vector showed that high uPA mRNA levels are due to increased uPA promoter activity. Analyses of various signaling molecules by transient cotransfection assays and in vitro kinase assays established that a signaling pathway involving c-Src, SOS, Ras,
Raf-1
and
ERK
is activated by middle-T in NIH3T3 cells, resulting in the activation of the uPA gene promoter via PEA3/AP1 elements. In contrast, in eEND2 cells uPA gene induction is only partially dependent on this pathway, suggesting the involvement of additional signaling molecules in endothelial cells.
...
PMID:Urokinase-type plasminogen activator gene regulation by polyomavirus middle-T antigen. 857 Jan 90
Signaling via the Ras pathway involves sequential activation of Ras,
Raf-1
, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MKK), and the extracellular signal-regulated (
ERK
) group of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. Expression from the c-Fos, atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), and myosin light chain-2 (MLC-2) promoters during phenylephrine-induced cardiac muscle cell hypertrophy requires activation of this pathway. Furthermore, constitutively active Ras or
Raf-1
can mimic the action of phenylephrine in inducing expression from these promoters. In this study, we tested whether constitutively active MKK, the molecule immediately downstream of Raf, was sufficient to induce expression. Expression of constitutively active MKK induce ERK2 kinase activity and caused expression from the c-Fos promoter, but did not significantly activate expression of reporter genes under the control of either the ANF or MLC-2 promoters. Expression of CL100, a phosphatase that inactivates ERKs, prevented expression from all of the promoters. Taken together, these data suggest that
ERK
activation is required for expression from the Fos, ANF, and MLC-2 promoters but MKK and
ERK
activation is sufficient for expression only from the Fos promoter. Constitutively active MKK synergized with phenylephrine to increase expression from a c-Fos- or an AP1-driven reporter. However, active MKK inhibited phenylephrine- and
Raf-1
-induced expression from the ANF and MLC-2 promoters. A DNA sequence in the MLC-2 promoter that is a target for inhibition by active MKK, but not CL100, was mapped to a previously characterized DNA element (HF1) that is responsible for cardiac specificity. Thus, activation of cardiac gene expression during phenylephrine-induced hypertrophy requires
ERK
activation but constitutive activation by MKK can inhibit expression by targeting a DNA element that controls the cardiac specificity of gene expression.
...
PMID:Inhibition of a signaling pathway in cardiac muscle cells by active mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase. 858 50
The serine/threonine protein kinase
Raf-1
is a component of a conserved intracellular signaling cascade that controls responses to various extracellular stimuli. Transcription from several promoters, including the oncogene-responsive element in the polyomavirus enhancer, the c-fos promoter, as well as other AP-1- and Ets-dependent promoters, can be induced by
Raf-1
kinase. Previously, we have shown that activated
Raf-1
kinase transactivates the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) long terminal repeat and have identified the NF-kappaB binding motif as a
Raf-1
-responsive element (RafRE). We now report that
Raf-1
kinase-induced transactivation from the HIV RafRE involves the purine-rich-repeat-binding protein (GABP), which is composed of two distinct subunits (alpha and beta). GABP alpha is an Ets oncogene-related DNA-binding protein, and GABP beta contains four ankyrin-like repeats that have been shown to be essential in protein-protein interactions. In electrophoretic mobility shift assays using nuclear extracts from human Jurkat T cells, a protein-DNA complex which was supershifted with antiserum against GABP alpha and GABP beta was observed. Purified recombinant GABP alpha and beta interact with the HIV RafRE as judged from DNA binding assays. Cotransfection experiments with GABP alpha and beta and
Raf-1
kinase demonstrate synergistic transactivation of the HIV-1 promoter. Point mutations in the HIV RafRE abolished the
Raf-1
kinase as well as GABP alpha- and beta-induced transactivation. The observed
Raf-1
-GABP synergism presumably involves phosphorylation of GABP subunits, as treatment of cells with
Raf-1
kinase activators serum and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate increases phosphorylation of GABP in vivo. However, GABP is not a target of
Raf-1
kinase; instead, it is a substrate of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK/
ERK
), since in vitro phosphorylation of GABP alpha and beta was achieved by the reconstituted protein kinase cascade but not with purified
Raf-1
or MEK. These results suggest that
Raf-1
kinase- induced activation of the HIV-1 promoter is mediated by the classical cytoplasmic cascade resulting in MAPK/
ERK
-mediated phosphorylation of GABP alpha and beta. Because the HIV RafRE corresponds to a region within the promoter which is essential for regulation of HIV-1 expression, the data indicate that in addition to NK-kappaB, GABP transcription factors are important for induced expression of HIV.
...
PMID:Raf-1 kinase targets GA-binding protein in transcriptional regulation of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 promoter. 864 52
A plethora of extracellular signals leads to the stimulation of Ras, which triggers intracellular protein kinase cascades, resulting in activation of transcription factors and thus in enhanced gene activity. In this report, it is demonstrated that the ETS transcription factor ER81, which appears to be localized within the cell nucleus by virtue of its DNA binding domain, is transcriptionally activated by oncogenic Ras. Since this activation was dependent on the presence of
Raf-1
and ERK-1, ER81 is a target of the Ras/Raf/MEK/
ERK
signaling cascade. Consistently, activated ERK-1 is capable to phosphorylate ER81. However, the carboxy-terminal region of ER81, which contains no potential
ERK
phosphorylation sites, is also transcriptionally activated by ERK-1, suggesting that an
ERK
-stimulated protein kinase phosphorylates and thus stimulates ER81 activity. Two acidic stretches of amino acids, which are conserved in the related PEA3 and ERM proteins, are localized within the amino-and carboxy-terminal transactivation domains of ER81. In addition, an inhibitory domain may dampen the activation function of these two domains. In conclusion, ER81 is a target of Ras-dependent signaling cascades and may thus contribute to the nuclear response upon stimulation of cells and also to cellular transformation due to oncogenic Ras.
...
PMID:Analysis of the ERK-stimulated ETS transcription factor ER81. 865 29
Rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of key cellular proteins is a crucial event in signal transduction. The regulatory role of protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) in this process was explored by studying the effects of a powerful PTP inhibitor, pervanadate, on the activation of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade. Treatment of HeLa cells with pervanadate resulted in a marked inhibition of PTP activity, accompanied by a drastic increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins. The increased tyrosine phosphorylation coincided with the activation of the MAP kinase cascade as indicated by enzymatic activity assays of MEK (MAP kinase/
ERK
-kinase) and MAP kinase and gel mobility shift analyses of
Raf-1
and MAP kinase. The activation was sustained but reversible. Upon removal of pervanadate, both tyrosine phosphorylation and MAP kinase activation declined to basal levels. Therefore, inhibition of PTP activity is sufficient per se to initiate a complete MAP kinase activation program.
...
PMID:Activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway by pervanadate, a potent inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatases. 870 41
Hemodynamic forces play a key role in inducing atherosclerosis-implicated gene expression in vascular endothelial cells. To elucidate the signal transduction pathway leading to such gene expression, we studied the effects of fluid shearing on the activities of upstream signaling molecules. Fluid shearing (shear stress, 12 dynes/cm2 [1 dyne = 10(-5)N]) induced a transient and rapid activation of p21ras and preferentially activated c-Jun NH2 terminal kinases (JNK1 and JNK2) over extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK-1 and ERK-2). Cotransfection of RasN17, a dominant negative mutant of Ha-Ras, attenuated the shear-activated JNK and luciferase reporters driven by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-responsive elements. JNK(K-R) and MEKK(K-M), the respective catalytically inactive mutants of JNK1 and MEKK, also partially inhibited the shear-induced luciferase reporters. In contrast, Raf301,
ERK
(K71R), and
ERK
(K52R), the dominant negative mutants of
Raf-1
, ERK-1, and ERK-2, respectively, had little effect on the activities of these reporters. The activation of JNK was also correlated with increased c-Jun transcriptional activity, which was attenuated by a negative mutant of Son of sevenless. Thus, mechanical stimulation exerted by fluid shearing activates primarily the Ras-MEKK-JNK pathway in inducing endothelial gene expression.
...
PMID:The Ras-JNK pathway is involved in shear-induced gene expression. 888 24
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