Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.10.1 (ERK)
95,504 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Using a combination of screening, RACE, and RT-PCR, we have isolated a new rat brain cDNA, we refer to as rMNK2, that showed strong homology to known MAP-kinases. The deduced amino acid sequence of rMNK2 indicated that it is the rat homolog of human p63(mapk), showing 94.5% identity. rMNK2 showed 77% homology with rat ERK3 and its human homolog p97(mapk), and 43% homology with both rat genes rMNK1(ERK1) and ERK2, within the kinase domain. This suggest that rMNK2 and ERK3 belong to a separate subfamily within the rat MAP-kinase multigene family. The most interesting difference lies in subdomain VIII, where this new subfamily contain a SEG/SPR motif instead of the TEY/APE found in the ERK subfamily, the TPY/APE found in the JNK/SAPK subfamily or the TGY/APE found in the p38/RK subfamily. The human homologs of ERK3 and rMNK2 (p97(mapk) and p63(mapk)) also show this significant change. Expression of rMNK2 has been detected in brain and to a lesser extent in lung by reverse transcription/PCR (RT-PCR). In situ hybridization of rat brain slices demonstrated a restricted expression of rMNK2 in the choroid plexus and hippocampus. This is interesting because the human homolog p63(mapk) maps to 18q12-21, a region that might be implicated in manic-depressive illness.
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PMID:Isolation of a cDNA encoding the rat MAP-kinase homolog of human p63mapk. 887 88

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.
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PMID:The Ras-JNK pathway is involved in shear-induced gene expression. 888 24

1. Phosphorylation of caldesmon was assayed in canine colonic circular smooth muscle strips labelled with 32P and stimulated with 10 microM acetylcholine. Caldesmon was isolated by two-dimensional non-equilibrium pH gel electrophoresis. Stimulation with acetylcholine increased caldesmon phosphorylation significantly from a basal level of 0.6 +/- 0.07 to 1.1 +/- 0.15 mol P1 (mol caldesmon)-1 after 2 min. 2. MAP kinase activities were measured in SDS extracts of muscle by a gel reconstitution method using myelin basic protein. Myelin basic protein kinase activities were observed at 38, 44, 50 and 57 kDa by the gel reconstitution method. Endogenous caldesmon kinase activities were also identified by the gel reconstitution method at 38, 44 and 50 kDa. The 38 and 44 kDa kinases comigrated with proteins labelled by anti-ERK1 MAP kinase antibodies on Western blots. Both 38 and 44 kDa MBP kinase activities increased significantly during contractions induced by 10 microM acetylcholine, 0.1 microM neurokinin A and 70 mM potassium. 3. Phorbol dibutyrate (0.1 microM) potentiated activation of MAP kinases and contraction of depolarized muscles while producing a decrease in fura-2 fluorescence ratio. This suggests that protein kinase C activation is coupled to MAP kinase activity in colonic smooth muscle. 4. MAP kinases isolated form muscle homogenates by Mono Q chromatography were assayed using the specific MAP kinase substrate peptide APRTPGGRR. Stimulation of muscles for 2 min with 10 microM acetylcholine activated both ERK1 and ERK2 MAP kinase activities 2-fold. 5. To determine the effects of caldesmon phosphorylation by MAP kinase on the cross-bridge cycle, actin sliding velocity was measured with an in vitro motility assay. Unphosphorylated turkey gizzard caldesmon (3 microM) significantly reduced mean sliding velocity. Phosphorylation of caldesmon with sea star ERK1 MAP kinase reversed the inhibitory effect of caldesmon on sliding velocity. The results are consistent with a protein kinase cascade being activated by contractile agonists in gastrointestinal smooth muscle which activates ERK MAP kinases leading to phosphorylation of caldesmon. Phosphorylation of caldesmon in vivo may reverse inhibitory influences of caldesmon on cross-bridge cycling.
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PMID:Activation of MAP kinases and phosphorylation of caldesmon in canine colonic smooth muscle. 888 69

Different mitogens elicit similar effects on growth and differentiation of skeletal muscle, suggesting that potential overlap exists in the signaling cascades activated by such factors. To investigate this possibility, we examined the status of STAT and ERK proteins in C2C12 myoblasts and myotubes following stimulation with bFGF or LIF. Both STAT1 and STAT3 as well as ERK1 and ERK2 proteins were detectable in extracts of myoblasts. LIF stimulation of myoblasts lead to rapid phosphorylation on tyrosine of STAT3 and of ERKs 1 and 2. Similarly, bFGF stimulation of myoblasts resulted in the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3. However, unlike LIF, the bFGF induced tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 appeared cyclical, with recurrent peaks of phosphorylation even after prolonged exposure. By contrast, STAT1 remained unphosphorylated in myoblasts treated with bFGF or LIF. In differentiated myotubes, LIF treatment resulted in the tyrosine phosphorylation of both STAT3 and STAT1, but ERK phosphorylation was not detectable, and bFGF treatment did not lead to STAT1 or STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation. Therefore these observations suggest that disparate mitogens car activate similar downstream effectors in proliferating myoblasts.
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PMID:bFGF and LIF signaling activates STAT3 in proliferating myoblasts. 890 46

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) expression is induced upon cytoskeletal reorganization (CSR) by a mechanism independent of protein kinase C and cAMP protein kinase in nontransformed renal epithelial (LLC-PK1) cells. This CSR-dependent uPA gene activation is mediated by an AP-1-recognizing element located 2 kilobases upstream of the transcription initiation site. The phosphorylation of c-Jun, a component of AP-1, is induced by CSR, which seems to increase both the activity and stability of c-Jun (Lee, J. S., von der Ahe, D., Kiefer, B., and Nagamine, Y. (1993) Nucleic Acids Res. 21, 3365-3372). It has been shown that c-Jun is phosphorylated by members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family, i.e. ERKs and JNKs. ERKs are activated through a growth factor-coupled Ras/Raf-dependent signaling pathway, while JNKs are activated through a stress-induced signaling pathway. Although CSR induces both ERK-2 and JNK activity, JNK does not seem to be involved in the uPA gene induction because UV irradiation, which activates JNK as efficiently as CSR, does not activate the uPA promoter. Further analysis showed the involvement of SOS, Ras, and Raf-1 in the pathway induced by CSR. Our results suggest that cells sense changes in cell morphology using the cytoskeleton as a sensor and respond by activating the ERK-involving signaling pathway from within the cell.
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PMID:Cytoskeleton reorganization induces the urokinase-type plasminogen activator gene via the Ras/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway. 899 79

Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is one of the major regulators of eosinophilic granulocytes in vivo. IL-5 exerts its pleiotropic effects by binding to the IL-5 receptor, which is composed of an IL-5-specific alpha chain and a common betac chain shared with the receptors for IL-3 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Previous studies have shown that binding of IL-5 to its receptor triggers the activation of multiple signaling cascades, including the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase, the phosphatidyl -3'-kinase, and the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription pathways. Here we describe that IL-5 activates the serine/threonine protein kinase Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) pathway. We show that IL-5 activates TPA response element (TRE)-dependent transcription in transfection experiments. TRE activation by IL-5 is mediated by a region of the betac (577-581) that is also responsible for activation of JNK/SAPK and for activation of dyad symmetry element (DSE)-dependent transcription. Dominant-negative SAPK or ERK kinase-1 was used to demonstrate that JNK/SAPK activation is necessary for induction of DSE- and TRE-dependent transcription by IL-5, whereas extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 was not essential for TRE- and DSE-dependent transcription. By contrast, IL-5-induced activation of the tyrosine kinase Janus kinase 2 seems to be a prerequisite for TRE- and DSE-dependent transcription. Taken together, we show for the first time that IL-5 activates kinases of the JNK/SAPK family, and that this activation is linked to IL-5-induced TRE- and DSE-dependent transcription.
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PMID:Activation of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate response element- and dyad symmetry element-dependent transcription by interleukin-5 is mediated by Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase kinases. 899 40

The receptor for granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) can mediate differentiation and proliferation of hemopoietic cells. A proliferative signal is associated with activation of the ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. To determine whether other MAPK pathways are activated by G-CSF signalling, we have investigated activation of JNK/SAPK in cells proliferating in response to G-CSF. Here we show that G-CSF and interleukin-3 activate JNK/SAPK in two hemopoietic cell lines. The region of the G-CSF receptor required for G-CSF-induced JNK/SAPK activation is located within the C-terminal 68 amino acids of the cytoplasmic domain, which contains Tyr 763. Mutation of Tyr 763 to Phe completely blocks JNK/SAPK activation. However, the C-terminal 68 amino acids are not required for ERK2 activation. We show that activation of JNK/SAPK, like that of ERK2, is dependent on Ras but that higher levels of Ras-GTP are associated with activation of JNK/SAPK than with activation of ERK2. Two separate functional regions of the G-CSF receptor contribute to activation of Ras. The Y763F mutation reduces G-CSF-induced Ras activation from 30 to 35% Ras-GTP to 10 to 13% Ras-GTP. Low levels of Ras activation (10 to 13% Ras-GTP), which are sufficient for ERK2 activation, require only the 100 membrane-proximal amino acids. High levels of Ras-GTP provided by expression of oncogenic Ras are not sufficient to activate JNK/SAPK. An additional signal, also mediated by Tyr 763, is required for activation of JNK/SAPK.
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PMID:Tyrosine 763 of the murine granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor mediates Ras-dependent activation of the JNK/SAPK mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. 903 44

Intracellular reactive oxygen intermediate (ROI) levels play an important role in numerous physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Apart from causing oxidative stress and damage, ROI changes differentially activate gene expression. However the proto-oncogene encoding the AP-1 transcription factor subunit c-Fos is induced by both prooxidants and antioxidants. Here, the transcription factor Elk-1 is identified as being responsible for c-fos serum response element (SRE) induction in response to changes in the cellular redox status induced by treatment with either the oxidant H2O2 or various structurally unrelated antioxidants. A temporal correlation is observed between changes in the phosphorylation status of Elk-1 and the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase 2 (ERK2) in response to cellular redox changes. Correspondingly, the transcriptional response of the SRE to redox fluctuations is attenuated upon mutation of critical ERK2 target residues within the Elk-1 transactivation domain to alanine. Signals elicited by antagonistic intracellular redox changes converge at or above the level of Ras or an effector of Ras, leading to similar activation of c-fos transcription, since an [N17]Ras mutant interfered with redox signaling. Hence components of signaling pathways are revealed to be shared by mitogenic and redox-dependent stimuli.
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PMID:Antioxidants as well as oxidants activate c-fos via Ras-dependent activation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 2 and Elk-1. 906 44

Inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells adapt to a hypertonic environment by synthesizing transporters that allow for accumulation of organic osmolytes. To examine for activation of additional mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, extracts of IMCD-3 cells subjected to a hypertonic medium (600 mosmol/kgH2O) for 15 min were fractionated by Mono Q fast-performance liquid chromatography and assayed with the epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR-(662-681)] peptide as substrate. Three peaks of activity were identified. Western blotting revealed that these peaks coincided with Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases, ERK1 and ERK2, and p38 MAP kinase. To assess the functional significance of ERK2 activation in IMCD-3 cells, the effect of PD-098059, an inhibitor of the upstream regulatory protein kinase MAP/ERK kinase (MEK) was assessed. PD-098059 inhibited ERK activation by hypertonicity. Yet, the stimulation of inositol uptake, a marker of adaptation, after 16 h was unaltered. Direct measurements of JNK activity [phosphorylation of GST-cJun-(1-79)] revealed a marked (20- to 40-fold) increase in activity as medium osmolality was increased from 300 to 900 mosmol/kgH2O with either NaCl or mannitol. Urea induced a more modest increase in activity. The response is prompt and detected as early as 2 min after exposure, reaching a maximum activation at 10-15 min. Downregulation of cellular protein kinase C (PKC) by chronic exposure to phorbol esters only minimally attenuated the JNK response to hyperosmolality, indicating a lack of involvement of PKC. We conclude that, in IMCD-3 cells, inhibition of ERK activation by hyperosmolality does not prevent osmoregulatory increase in inositol transport. This is not consistent with a role for ERKs in the response. The roles for JNK and p38 have not been ruled out, and these pathways may represent the initiating event in the subsequent transcription of organic osmolyte transporter genes and adaptation to extracellular hypertonicity.
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PMID:Multiple mitogen-activated protein kinases are regulated by hyperosmolality in mouse IMCD cells. 908 72

The c-ret proto-oncogene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase which plays an important role in kidney and enteric nervous system development. Germline mutations in c-ret are responsible for the dominantly inherited cancer syndromes, multiple endocrine neoplasia types 2A and 2B and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma as well as the developmental disorder Hirschsprung's disease. Using SK-N-MC neuroepithelioma cells stably transfected with an EGFR/Ret chimeric receptor, we have studied cellular consequences and signalling events following activation of exogenous EGFR/Ret and endogenous FGF and PDGF receptor tyrosine kinases in cells of neuroectodermal origin. Here we report that Ret activation led to cell scattering, growth inhibition and loss of anchorage-independent growth. Basic FGF, but not PDGF, evoked similar responses in those cells. Nevertheless, activation of all three receptor tyrosine kinases led to ERK2 activation. Analysis of the kinetics of ERK2 activation and downstream events revealed that Ret and FGF receptor activation led to sustained ERK2 activation and SRE transactivation, while PDGF treatment led to transient ERK2 activation and failed to induce SRE transactivation. Our results suggest that sustained, but not transient ERK2 activation may be involved in cell scattering.
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PMID:Cell scattering of SK-N-MC neuroepithelioma cells in response to Ret and FGF receptor tyrosine kinase activation is correlated with sustained ERK2 activation. 912 63


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