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)

The binding of oncostatin M (OM) to type I and type II receptor complexes elicits various biological responses by activating MEK/ERK and JAK/STAT signaling pathways. Some OM effects are clinically desirable such as reducing hyperlipidemia through the activation of hepatic LDL receptor transcription, a downstream event of ERK activation. The OM pro-inflammatory responses via induction of acute phase protein gene expression have been associated with STAT activation. In this study, by conducting site-directed mutagenesis, bioassays and molecular modeling we have defined 4 OM residues that are differently involved in the activation of ERK or STAT signaling pathway in HepG2 cells. We show that mutation of Lys163 to alanine totally abolished OM-mediated signaling, possibly because such mutation causes the disruption of a stabilizing H-bond pattern at the OM interface with receptors. G120A mutation equally impaired activations of ERK and STAT signaling pathways also by impairing the OM/cognate protein interactions. Interestingly, mutations of Gln20 and Asn123 differentially affected OM signaling through the two pathways. Q20A and N123A retained strong activity in inducing ERK phosphorylation but they showed diminished ability in activating STAT1 and STAT3. We further showed that mutations at Gln20 and Asn123 reduced OM induction of inflammatory gene fibrinogen-beta to a greater extent than that of LDL receptor gene. The mutation of Asn123 is directly related to local structural modification at site 3 of OM. Collectively these results provide a structural basis of OM-mediated signaling and suggest a potential to improve OM therapeutic properties via structural modification.
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PMID:Molecular dissection of human oncostatin M-mediated signal transductions through site-directed mutagenesis. 1914 39

We aimed in this study at identifying prognostic immunohistochemical molecular signatures indicative of disease outcome, also relevant for development of new specific therapies, in triple-negative (ER, PR, c-erbB2- negative) breast carcinoma subtypes. We evaluated 42 markers in tissue micro-arrays from a series of 924 breast carcinomas including 184 triple-negative tumors using standardized quantitative immunocytochemical assays and correlated the data with patients' outcome (mean follow-up of 79 months). When 27/42 markers including basal-like markers first found to be individually significant for prognosis in a univariate analysis (log-rank test) in 924 tumors, were secondly evaluated in the triple-negative tumor subtype (184/924), eleven including maspin, P21, P27, PTEN, caveolin, EGFR, FAK, P38, pMAPK, STAT1 and CD10 were 89.2% predictive of disease outcome in logistic regression. When markers reported in the literature as expressed in basal-like subtype were evaluated in the 924 series, only eight (EGFR, CK14, moesin, caveolin, cMet, ckit, CD44v6, C10) were prognosis predictive in univariate analysis (log-rank test) and in logistic regression were predictive of disease outcome in 66.3% independently of ER, PR and c-erbB2 expression and in 72% in triple-negative tumor subset. The results suggest that the category of 'triple-negative' breast carcinomas does not exactly overlap the basal-like subtype, and that immunoprofiling of triple-negative tumors (not similar to that of basal-like tumors) may be helpful to select patients for more aggressive treatment and provides a basis for development of tailored therapy.
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PMID:Quantitative immunocytochemical profile to predict early outcome of disease in triple-negative breast carcinomas. 1928 55

The transcription factor STAT1 plays a role in promoting apoptotic cell death, whereas the related STAT3 transcription factor protects cardiac myocytes from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury or oxidative stress. Cytokines belonging to the IL-6 family activate the JAK-STAT3 pathway, but also activate other cytoprotective pathways such as the MAPK-ERK or the PI3-AKT pathway. It is therefore unclear whether STAT3 is the only cytoprotective mediator against oxidative stress-induced cell death. Overexpression of STAT3 in primary neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM) protects against I/R-induced cell death. Moreover, a dominant negative STAT3 adenovirus (Ad ST3-DN) enhanced apoptotic cell death (81.2+/-6.9%) compared to control infected NRVM (46.0+/-3.1%) following I/R. Depletion of STAT3 sensitized cells to apoptotic cell death following oxidative stress. These results provide direct evidence for the role of STAT3 as a cytoprotective transcription factor in cells exposed to oxidative stress.
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PMID:STAT3 deletion sensitizes cells to oxidative stress. 1945 May 59

Interferon (IFN)-gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10/CXCL10), a CXC chemokine, has been documented in several inflammatory and autoimmune disorders including atopic dermatitis and bronchial asthma. Although CXCL10 could be induced by IFN-gamma depending on cell type, the mechanisms regulating CXCL10 production following treatment with combination of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha have not been adequately elucidated in human monocytes. In this study, we showed that TNF-alpha had more potential than IFN-gamma to induce CXCL10 production in THP-1 monocytes. Furthermore, IFN-gamma synergistically enhanced the production of CXCL10 in parallel with the activation of NF-kappaB in TNF-alpha-stimulated THP-1 cells. Blockage of STAT1 or NF-kappaB suppressed CXCL10 production. JAKs inhibitors suppressed IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha-induced production of CXCL10 in parallel with activation of STAT1 and NF-kappaB, while ERK inhibitor suppressed production of CXCL10 as well as activation of NF-kappaB, but not that of STAT1. IFN-gamma-induced phosphorylation of JAK1 and JAK2, whereas TNF-alpha induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Interestingly, IFN-gamma alone had no effect on phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaB-alpha, whereas it significantly promoted TNF-alpha-induced phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaB-alpha. These results suggest that TNF-alpha induces CXCL10 production by activating NF-kappaB through ERK and that IFN-gamma induces CXCL10 production by increasing the activation of STAT1 through JAKs pathways. Of note, TNF-alpha-induced NF-kappaB may be the primary pathway contributing to CXCL10 production in THP-1 cells. IFN-gamma potentiates TNF-alpha-induced CXCL10 production in THP-1 cells by increasing the activation of STAT1 and NF-kappaB through JAK1 and JAK2.
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PMID:Essential involvement of cross-talk between IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in CXCL10 production in human THP-1 monocytes. 1947 12

Treatment of (NZB x NZW)F(1) (NZB/W) lupus-prone mice with the anti-DNA Ig-based peptide pConsensus prolongs the survival of treated animals and effectively delays the appearance of autoantibodies and glomerulonephritis. We have previously shown that part of these protective effects associated with the induction of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) that suppressed autoantibody responses. Because the effects of pConsensus appeared secondary to qualitative rather than quantitative changes in Tregs, we investigated the molecular events induced by tolerance in Tregs and found that signaling pathways including ZAP70, p27, STAT1, STAT3, STAT6, SAPK, ERK, and JNK were not significantly affected. However, peptide tolerization affected in Tregs the activity of the MAPK p38, whose phosphorylation was reduced by tolerance. The pharmacologic inhibition of p38 with the pyridinyl imidazole inhibitor SB203580 in naive NZB/W mice reproduced in vivo the effects of peptide-induced tolerance and protected mice from lupus-like disease. Transfer experiments confirmed the role of p38 in Tregs on disease activity in the NZB/W mice. These data indicate that the modulation of p38 activity in lupus Tregs can significantly influence the disease activity.
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PMID:Modulation of p38 MAPK activity in regulatory T cells after tolerance with anti-DNA Ig peptide in (NZB x NZW)F1 lupus mice. 1949 64

Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) is an adaptor molecule that mediates inflammatory and apoptotic signals. Although the role of ASC in caspase-1-mediated IL-1beta and IL-18 maturation is well known, ASC also induces NF-kappaB activation and cytokine gene expression in human cells. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism and repertoire of ASC-induced gene expression in human cells. We found that the specific activation of ASC induced AP-1 activity, which was required for optimal IL8 promoter activity. ASC activation also induced STAT3-, but not STAT1-, IFN-stimulated gene factor 3- or NF-AT-dependent reporter gene expression. The ASC-mediated AP-1 activation was NF-kappaB-independent and primarily cell-autonomous response, whereas the STAT3 activation required NF-kappaB activation and was mediated by a factor that can act in a paracrine manner. ASC-mediated AP-1 activation was inhibited by chemical or protein inhibitors for caspase-8, caspase-8-targeting small-interfering RNA, and p38 and JNK inhibitors, but not by a caspase-1 inhibitor, caspase-9 or Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) dominant-negative mutants, FADD- or RICK-targeting small-interfering RNAs, or a MEK inhibitor, indicating that the ASC-induced AP-1 activation is mediated by caspase-8, p38, and JNK, but does not require caspase-1, caspase-9, FADD, RICK, or ERK. DNA microarray analyses identified 75 genes that were induced by ASC activation. A large proportion of them was related to transcription (23%), inflammation (21%), or cell death (16%), indicating that ASC is a potent inducer of inflammatory and cell death-related genes. This is the first report of ASC-mediated AP-1 activation and the repertoire of genes induced downstream of ASC activation.
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PMID:Mechanism and repertoire of ASC-mediated gene expression. 1949 89

Berberine, an alkaloid derivative from Berberis vulgaris L., has been used extensively in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diarrhea and diabetes, but the underlying mechanisms for treating diabetes are not fully understood. Recent studies suggested that berberine has many beneficial biological effects, including anti-inflammation. Because type 1 diabetes is caused by T cell-mediated destruction of beta cells and severe islet inflammation, we hypothesized that berberine could ameliorate type 1 diabetes through its immune regulation properties. Here we reported that 2 weeks of oral administration of berberine prevented the progression of type 1 diabetes in half of the NOD mice and decreased Th17 and Th1 cytokine secretion. Berberine suppressed Th17 and Th1 differentiation by reducing the expression of lineage markers. We found that berberine inhibited Th17 differentiation by activating ERK1/2 and inhibited Th1 differentiation by inhibiting p38 MAPK and JNK activation. Berberine down-regulated the activity of STAT1 and STAT4 through the suppression of p38 MAPK and JNK activation, and it controlled the stability of STAT4 through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Our findings indicate that berberine targets MAPK to suppress Th17 and Th1 differentiation in type 1 diabetic NOD mice. This study revealed a novel role of ERK in Th17 differentiation through down-regulation of STAT3 phosphorylation and RORgamma t expression.
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PMID:Berberine differentially modulates the activities of ERK, p38 MAPK, and JNK to suppress Th17 and Th1 T cell differentiation in type 1 diabetic mice. 1966 Oct 66

The human mucin gene MUC4 is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer and cancer cell lines, while remaining undetectable in the normal pancreas, indicating its important role in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis. The molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of MUC4 gene expression are not fully understood. In this report, we used pancreatic cancer cell line (Bxpc-3) to explore the potential transcription factors regulating MUC4 transcriptional activity. Through promoter screening, overexpressing methods and luciferase reporter studies, we found that transcription factors CREB, Ets-1, Elk-1 and STAT1 can positively regulate MUC4 expression at the promoter and mRNA level. Our findings will be helpful for better understanding the transcriptional regulation of MUC4 in pancreatic cancer cells and identifying key biologically relevant factors that may account for its aberrant expression in pancreatic cancer.
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PMID:Transcriptional regulation of human mucin gene MUC4 in pancreatic cancer cells. 1975 57

A number of paramyxoviruses are responsible for acute respiratory infections in children, elderly and immuno-compromised individuals, resulting in airway inflammation and exacerbation of chronic diseases like asthma. To understand the molecular pathogenesis of these infections, we searched for cellular targets of the virulence protein C of human parainfluenza virus type 3 (hPIV3-C). We found that hPIV3-C interacts directly through its C-terminal domain with STAT1 and GRB2, whereas C proteins from measles or Nipah viruses failed to do so. Binding to STAT1 explains the previously reported capacity of hPIV3-C to block type I interferon signaling, but the interaction with GRB2 was unexpected. This adaptor protein bridges Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) receptor to MAPK/ERK pathway, a signaling cascade recently found to be involved in airway inflammatory response. We report that either hPIV3 infection or transient expression of hPIV3-C both increase cellular response to EGF, as assessed by Elk1 transactivation and phosphorylation levels of ERK1/2, 40S ribosomal subunit protein S6 and translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). Furthermore, inhibition of MAPK/ERK pathway with U0126 prevented viral protein expression in infected cells. Altogether, our data provide molecular basis to explain the role of hPIV3-C as a virulence factor and determinant of pathogenesis and demonstrate that Paramyxoviridae have evolved a single virulence factor to block type I interferon signaling and to boost simultaneous cellular response to growth factors.
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PMID:Differential regulation of type I interferon and epidermal growth factor pathways by a human Respirovirus virulence factor. 1980 78

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) migration involves several molecules, including matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We have studied whether VEGF regulates MMP-9. VEGF significantly reduced MMP-9 protein expression in a dose-dependent manner, measured by gelatin zymography. Blocking the VEGFR2 receptor restored MMP-9 levels, implicating this receptor in the observed effect. Down-regulation of MMP-9 by VEGF resulted in significant inhibition of B-CLL cell migration through Matrigel or human umbilical vein endothelial cells, confirming the crucial role of MMP-9 in these processes. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that VEGF regulated MMP-9 at the transcriptional level. Indeed, VEGF induced STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation, and this was blocked by inhibiting VEGFR2. STAT1 was responsible for MMP-9 down-regulation, as STAT1 gene silencing restored MMP-9 production and B-CLL cell migration in the presence of VEGF. Thus, the levels of VEGF and MMP-9 influence B-CLL cell expansion and both molecules could constitute therapeutic targets for this disease.
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PMID:VEGF/VEGFR2 interaction down-regulates matrix metalloproteinase-9 via STAT1 activation and inhibits B chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell migration. 1996 86


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