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)

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its two endothelial cell-specific receptor tyrosine kinases, Flk-1/KDR and Flt-1, play a key role in physiological and pathological angiogenesis. Hypoxia has been shown to be a major mechanism for up-regulation of VEGF and its receptors in vivo. When we exposed human umbilical vein endothelial cells to hypoxic conditions in vitro, we observed increased levels of Flt-1 expression. In contrast, Flk-1/KDR mRNA levels were unchanged or slightly repressed. These findings suggest a differential transcriptional regulation of the two receptors by hypoxia. To identify regulatory elements involved in the hypoxic response, promoter regions of the mouse Flt-1 and Flk-1/KDR genes were isolated and tested in conjunction with luciferase reporter gene. In transient transfection assays, hypoxia led to strong transcriptional activation of the Flt-1 promoter, whereas Flk-1/KDR transcription was essentially unchanged. Promoter deletion analysis demonstrated a 430-bp region of the Flt-1 promoter to be required for transcriptional activation in response to hypoxia. This region includes a heptamer sequence matching the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF) consensus binding site previously found in other hypoxia-inducible genes such as the VEGF gene and erythropoietin gene. We further narrowed down the element mediating the hypoxia response to a 40-base pair sequence including the putative HIF binding site. We show that this element acts like an enhancer, since it activated transcription irrespective of its location or orientation in the construct. Furthermore, mutations within the putative HIF consensus binding site lead to impaired transcriptional activation by hypoxia. These findings indicate that, unlike the KDR/Flk-1 gene, the Flt-1 receptor gene is directly up-regulated by hypoxia via a hypoxia-inducible enhancer element located at positions -976 to -937 of the Flt-1 promoter.
...
PMID:Differential transcriptional regulation of the two vascular endothelial growth factor receptor genes. Flt-1, but not Flk-1/KDR, is up-regulated by hypoxia. 929 7

Red blood cells arise continuously from pluripotent stem cells which mature and become functionally specialized upon commitment to the erythroid lineage. In mammals, the key regulator of this process is the hormone erythropoietin (EPO). Hormone binding to the cognate receptor, the erythropoietin receptor (EPO-R), causes receptor homodimerization and transiently triggers tyrosine phosphorylation within target cells. Although the EPO-R lacks intrinsic enzymatic activity it couples, presumably sequentially, to the protein tyrosine kinase receptor c-KIT and the cytosolic protein tyrosine kinase JAK2. Signaling through the EPO-R is promoted by tyrosine phosphorylation of the cytosolic domain and the recruitment of secondary signaling molecules such as the lipid kinase inositolphospholipid 3-kinase (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase) and protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 to the activated receptor. Complex formation of the activated EPO-R with the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 terminates signaling. In primary fetal liver cells redundant signals emanating from phosphotyrosine residues in the EPO-R support formation of erythroid colonies in vitro. However, since the last tyrosine residue in the cytosolic domain of the EPO-R, Y479, uniquely supports in the absence of other tyrosine residues an almost normal level of colony-forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E) colony formation, Y479 represents one of the key residues required in vivo for erythroid proliferation and differentiation. The signal emanating from Y479 involves sequential EPO-induced recruitment of phosphoinositol lipid 3-kinase to the EPO-R and activation of mitogen-activated-protein(MAP)kinase activity. The MAP-kinase signaling cascade could serve as an intracellular switch integrating signals mediated by several phosphotyrosine residues in the cytosolic domain of the EPO-R and provide a possible explanation for partial redundancy in signaling.
...
PMID:The role of tyrosine phosphorylation in proliferation and maturation of erythroid progenitor cells--signals emanating from the erythropoietin receptor. 939 8

Human hematopoiesis can be supported in beige/nude/ XID (bnx) mice by coinjection of human bone marrow stromal cells engineered to secrete human interleukin 3 (HuIL-3). The major limitation is a total absence of human B cell development in the mice, which could be due to supraphysiological levels of HuIL-3 in the circulation. In an effort to obtain human B lymphoid, as well as T lymphoid and myeloid cell development in the mice, CD34+ cells were coinjected with human marrow stromal cells engineered to secrete human IL-2, IL-7, stem cell factor or FLT3 ligand, +/- IL-3. No single factor other than IL-3 supported sustained human hematopoiesis in the mice, although cytokines were expressed for four to six months post-transplantation. Production of both HuIL-3 and IL-7 in the mice supported extrathymic development of human T lymphocytes, but no B cells, myeloid cells, or clonogenic progenitors were detected. Human B cells were not produced from CD34+ cells in the bnx mice under any condition tested. Another limitation to the bnx/Hu system is a lack of maturation of human red blood cells, although BFU-E are maintained. Stromal cells secreting human erythropoietin and IL-3 were cotransplanted into mice with HuCD34+ cells and an increase in hematocrit from 40%-45% to 80%-85% resulted, with production of human and murine red blood cells. Unfortunately, all mice (n = 9) suffered strokes, displayed paralysis and died within three weeks. The bnx/Hu cotransplantation model provides an interesting system in which to study human hematopoietic cell differentiation under the influence of various cytokines.
...
PMID:Long-term cytokine production from engineered primary human stromal cells influences human hematopoiesis in an in vivo xenograft model. 940 57

In an effort to expand human hematopoietic progenitors and stem cells in vitro, we cultured human CD34(+)c-kitlow bone marrow cells in suspension in the presence of KIT ligand, FLK2/FLT3 ligand, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and erythropoietin with or without IL-3 and tested their engrafting capabilities by injecting them into sheep fetuses. As markers for engraftment, we analyzed CD45(+) cells and karyotypes of the colonies grown in methylcellulose culture. In three separate experiments, day-60 engraftment in the bone marrow was seen with both fresh cells and cells cultured in the presence or absence of IL-3. When fetuses were allowed to be born and analyzed for CD45(+) cells, no long-term engraftment was seen with cultured cells. We then pooled the CD45(+) cells of the fetal samples and transplanted them into secondary recipient fetuses. Day-60 engraftment in the secondary recipients was again noted when transplantation in the primary recipients was initiated with fresh cells. There were 3 cases in which cultured cells showed signs of engraftment in the secondary recipients, but the remaining 24 cases showed no signs of engraftment. These data documented that suspension culture for 2 weeks of enriched adult human bone marrow cells can maintain short-term (2 months) engrafting cells, but may not maintain longer term engrafting cells. This sheep/human xenograft model may serve as an excellent method for the evaluation of the engraftment potential of in vitro-expanded cells.
...
PMID:Engraftment of cultured human hematopoietic cells in sheep. 957 5

p38 MAP kinase (p38) and JNK have been described as playing a critical role in the response to a variety of environmental stresses and proinflammatory cytokines. It was recently reported that hematopoietic cytokines activate not only classical MAP kinases (ERK), but also p38 and JNK. However, the physiological function of these kinases in hematopoiesis remains obscure. We found that all MAP kinases examined, ERK1, ERK2, p38, JNK1, and JNK2, were rapidly and transiently activated by erythropoietin (Epo) stimulation in SKT6 cells, which can be induced to differentiate into hemoglobinized cells in response to Epo. Furthermore, p38-specific inhibitor SB203580 but not MEK-specific inhibitor PD98059 significantly suppressed Epo-induced differentiation and antisense oligonucleotides of p38, JNK1, and JNK2, but neither ERK1 nor ERK2 clearly inhibited Epo-induced hemoglobinization. However, in Epo-dependent FD-EPO cells, inhibition of either ERKs, p38, or JNKs suppressed cell growth. Furthermore, forced expression of a gain-of-function MKK6 mutant, which specifically activated p38, induced hemoglobinization of SKT6 cells without Epo. These results indicate that activation of p38 and JNKs but not of ERKs is required for Epo-induced erythroid differentiation of SKT6 cells, whereas all of these kinases are involved in Epo-induced mitogenesis of FD-EPO cells.
...
PMID:Activation of p38 MAP kinase and JNK but not ERK is required for erythropoietin-induced erythroid differentiation. 973 Oct 42

The paradigm for the response to hypoxia is erythropoietin gene expression; activation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) results in erythropoietin production. Previously, we found that oxygen deprivation induced tissue factor, especially in mononuclear phagocytes, by an early growth response (Egr-1)-dependent pathway without involvement of HIF-1 (Yan, S.-F., Zou, Y.-S., Gao, Y., Zhai, C., Mackman, N., Lee, S., Milbrandt, J., Pinsky, D., Kisiel, W., and Stern, D. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 95, 8298-8303). Now, we show that cultured monocytes subjected to hypoxia (pO2 approximately 12 torr) displayed increased Egr-1 expression because of de novo biosynthesis, with a approximately 10-fold increased rate of transcription. Transfection of monocytes with Egr-1 promoter-luciferase constructs localized elements responsible for hypoxia-enhanced expression to -424/-65, a region including EBS (ets binding site)-SRE (serum response element)-EBS and SRE-EBS-SRE sites. Further studies with each of these regions ligated to the basal thymidine kinase promoter and luciferase demonstrated that EBS sites in the element spanning -424/-375 were critical for hypoxia-enhanceable gene expression. These data suggested that an activated ets factor, such as Elk-1, in complex with serum response factor, was the likely proximal trigger of Egr-1 transcription. Indeed, hypoxia induced activation of Elk-1, and suppression of Elk-1 blocked up-regulation of Egr-1 transcription. The signaling cascade preceding Elk-1 activation in response to oxygen deprivation was traced to activation of protein kinase C-betaII, Raf, mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinases. Comparable hypoxia-mediated Egr-1 induction and activation were observed in cultured hepatoma-derived cells deficient in HIF-1beta and wild-type hepatoma cells, indicating that the HIF-1 and Egr-1 pathways are initiated independently in response to oxygen deprivation. We propose that activation of Egr-1 in response to hypoxia induces a different facet of the adaptive response than HIF-1, one component of which causes expression of tissue factor, resulting in fibrin deposition.
...
PMID:Hypoxia-associated induction of early growth response-1 gene expression. 1032 6

C-Jun amino terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinases (JNK/SAPK) and p38 subgroups of mitogen-activated protein kinases have been suggested to play a critical role in apoptosis, cell growth, and/or differentiation. We found that a short exposure of SKT6 cells, which respond to erythropoietin (Epo) and induce erythroid differentiation, to osmotic or heat shock induced transient activation of JNK/SAPK and p38 and inactivation of ERK and resulted in erythroid differentiation without Epo, whereas long exposure of the cells to these stresses induced prolonged activation/inactivation of the same kinases and caused apoptosis. Inhibition of JNK/SAPK and p38 resulted in inhibition of stress-induced erythroid differentiation and apoptosis. Inhibition of ERK had no effect on stress-induced erythroid differentiation, but stimulated apoptosis. Activation of p38 and/or JNK/SAPK for a short time caused erythroid differentiation without Epo, although its prolonged activation induced apoptosis. Activation of ERK suppressed stress-induced apoptosis. These results indicate that short cellular stresses, inducing transient activation of JNK/SAPK and p38, lead to cell differentiation rather than apoptosis. Furthermore, activation of JNK/SAPK and p38 is required for both cell differentiation and apoptosis, and the duration of their activation may determine the cell fate, cell differentiation, and apoptosis. In contrast, inactivation of ERK is required for stress-induced apoptosis but not cell differentiation.
...
PMID:Requirement of activation of JNK and p38 for environmental stress-induced erythroid differentiation and apoptosis and of inhibition of ERK for apoptosis. 1041 75

The functional significance of CD95/Fas expressed by candidate hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from human fetal liver was studied by testing the effect of agonistic anti-CD95 monoclonal antibody (mAb) CH-11 and soluble CD95 ligand (sCD95L) on the growth of CD34(++)CD38(-)lineage cells in vitro. Candidate fetal HSCs exhibited a dose-dependent proliferative response to CH-11 as well as to sCD95L when combined with kit ligand (KL) + interleukin 3 (IL-3) under serum-deprived culture conditions. CH-11 mAb increased, in a synergistic fashion, the number of myeloid colony-forming unit culture (CFU-C) generated by candidate HSCs in liquid cultures with the cytokine combinations KL + IL-3, KL + granulocytemacrophage colony-stimulating factor, and KL + IL-6. CH-11 mAb and sCD95L also enhanced erythropoiesis supported by KL + IL-3 + erythropoietin (Epo). Furthermore, sCD95L was able to increase the number of megakaryocytes, granulocytes, and CD34- cells generated in the presence of KL + IL-3 + Epo + thrombopoietin. An analysis performed using Western blotting revealed that the membrane-bound CD95L (mCD95L) was expressed by both immature (total CD34+/++) and mature (CD34-) hematopoietic lin(-) FL cells. Among the CD34(++)lin(-)cells, both the freshly isolated CD38+ and CD38 subsets as well as CD95+ and CD95- cells constitutively expressed mCD95L, demonstrating that the CD95/CD95L system represents a paracrine and potentially autocrine regulator of early hematopoiesis. To study the role of the endogenously produced CD95L, we determined the effects of a neutralizing anti-CD95L NOK-1 on the growth of candidate HSCs. By blocking the endogenous CD95L with NOK-1 mAb, we observed an increase in CFU-C generated by candidate HSCs. We conclude that the endogenous CD95L has an inhibitory effect on fetal candidate HSCs, which can be blocked by sCD95L and CH-11 mAb.
...
PMID:Role of CD95/Fas and its ligand in the regulation of the growth of human CD34(++)CD38(-) fetal liver cells. 1048 Apr 34

CrkL is an SH2 and SH3 domain-containing adaptor protein implicated in pathogenesis of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Here, we demonstrate that overexpression of CrkL enhances the erythropoietin (Epo)- or interleukin (IL)-3-induced activation of Elk-1 and the c-fos gene promoter activity in 32D/EpoR-Wt cells. Moreover, the Epo-induced activation of ERK1 and ERK2 was augmented and prolonged in cells inducibly overexpressing CrkL. A moderate increase in Epo-induced activation of JNK was also observed in cells overexpressing CrkL. Overexpression of C3G enhanced the Elk-1 activation synergistically with CrkL, while a C3G mutant lacking the guanine nucleotide exchange domain showed an inhibitory effect. Studies using a dominant negative Ha-Ras mutant demonstrated that the Elk-1 and ERK2 activation enhanced by CrkL and C3G was dependent on Ras. Consistent with this, the Epo-induced activation of Ras was augmented in cells inducibly overexpressing CrkL. Most importantly, a CrkL mutant defective in the SH2 or N-terminal SH3 domain showed an inhibitory effect on the Epo-induced activation of ERK2. These data indicate that the CrkL-C3G complex plays a role in Epo- or IL-3-induced, Ras-dependent activation of the Raf/ERK pathway leading to the activation of Elk-1 and the c-fos gene transcription.
...
PMID:CrkL mediates Ras-dependent activation of the Raf/ERK pathway through the guanine nucleotide exchange factor C3G in hematopoietic cells stimulated with erythropoietin or interleukin-3. 1051 5

The role of Ras and MAP kinases (MAPKs) in the regulation of erythroid differentiation was studied using a cell line (SKT6) derived from Friend virus (Anemic strain)-induced murine erythroleukemia. This cell line undergoes differentiation in vitro in response to erythropoietin (EPO) or other chemical inducers such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). When a constitutively active ras mutant (ras12V) was expressed in SKT6 cells, EPO-induced differentiation was inhibited. Conversely, a dominant negative ras mutant (ras17N) induced differentiation even in the absence of EPO, suggesting that the basal Ras activity is essential for the maintenance of the undifferentiated phenotype and proliferative potential in this cell line. Rapid inactivation of ERK was observed after expression of ras17N. Slow but significant inactivation of ERK was also observed during EPO-induced differentiation. Furthermore, overexpression of a constitutively active mutant of ERK-activating kinase (MAPKK) was found to suppress erythroid differentiation, while pharmacological inhibition of MAPKK induced differentiation. These findings suggest that down-regulation of Ras/ERK signaling pathway may be an essential event in EPO-induced erythroid differentiation in this system.
...
PMID:Induction of erythroid differentiation by inhibition of Ras/ERK pathway in a friend murine leukemia cell line. 1073 9


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>