Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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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)

The induction of long-term depression (LTD) can be divided into two main forms, one dependent upon activation of postsynaptic NMDAR, and another independent of postsynaptic NMDAR. Non-postsynaptic NMDAR-LTD (non-NMDAR-LTD) occurs in many regions of the brain, and encompasses a wide variety of induction and expression mechanisms. In this article, the induction and expression mechanisms of such LTD in over 10 brain regions are described, with a number of common mechanisms compared across a large range of types of LTD. The article describes the involvement of different presynaptic or postsynaptic receptors in the induction of non-NMDAR-LTD, especially metabotropic glutamate receptors, cannabinoid receptors and dopamine receptors. An increase in presynaptic or postsynaptic intracellular Ca concentration is a key event in induction, commonly followed by activation of certain kinases, especially PKC, p38 MAPK and ERK. Expression mechanisms are either presynaptic via a reduction in release probability, or postsynaptic involving a decrease in AMPAR via phosphorylation of a glutamate receptor subunit, especially GluR2, followed by clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Retrograde signalling from postsynaptic to presynaptic occurs when induction is postsynaptic and expression is presynaptic.
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PMID:Induction and expression mechanisms of postsynaptic NMDA receptor-independent homosynaptic long-term depression. 1642 42

Ammonium transport proteins belonging to the Mep/Amt/Rh family are spread throughout all domains of life. A conserved aspartate residue plays a key role in the function of Escherichia coli AmtB. Here, we show that the analogous aspartate residue is critical for the transport function of eukaryotic family members as distant as the yeast transporter/sensor Mep2 and the human RhAG and RhCG proteins. In yeast Mep2, replacement of aspartate(186) with asparagine produced an inactive transporter localized at the cell surface, whilst replacement with alanine was accompanied by stacking of the protein in the endoplasmic reticulum. Introduction of an acidic residue, glutamate, produced a partially active protein. A carboxyl group at position 186 of Mep2 therefore appears mandatory for function. Kinetic analysis shows the Mep2(D186E) variant to be particularly affected at the level of substrate affinity, suggesting an involvement of aspartate(186) in ammonium recognition. Our data also put forward that ammonium recognition and/or transport by Mep2 is required for the sensor role played in the development of pseudohyphal growth. Finally, replacement of the conserved aspartate with asparagine in human RhAG and RhCG proteins resulted in the loss of bi-directional transport function. Hence, this aspartate residue might play a preserved functional role in Mep/Amt/Rh proteins.
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PMID:Structural involvement in substrate recognition of an essential aspartate residue conserved in Mep/Amt and Rh-type ammonium transporters. 1647 34

Radiation exposure at a young age is the only environmental factor known to cause thyroid cancer, predominantly of the papillary type. We have previously reported a high percentage (86.7%) of RET-positive papillary thyroid cancers in a cohort of individuals exposed to external radiation of the head and neck area before the age of 16. Recently, we and others have reported that point mutations of the BRAF gene occur with high frequency among sporadic adult papillary thyroid carcinomas, but occur at a much lower frequency in the population exposed after the Chernobyl accident. We here report that there is a similar low frequency of BRAF mutations among our cohort of those exposed to external beam radiation as children who later developed papillary thyroid cancer as adults. Samples were analyzed by mutation allele-specific amplification (MASA) for the most common T1799A mutation in exon 15 that converts amino acid 600 from valine to glutamate. In 23 cases, only 1 sample was positive. These results are further evidence that BRAF mutations, while common in sporadic adult papillary thyroid cancers, are rare events in cancers seen in subjects exposed to radiation as children.
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PMID:Low frequency of BRAF mutations in adult patients with papillary thyroid cancers following childhood radiation exposure. 1648 15

A significant increase in plasma glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase was observed 6 h after intraperitoneal administration of D-galactosamine (D-Galn). Three hours after administration of D-Galn, the vitamin C concentration in the liver decreased significantly compared to that in a control group and thereafter the hepatic vitamin C concentration remained at a significantly lower level. Phosphorylated JNK (c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase) and phosphorylated ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) started increasing 3 h after D-Galn treatment and remained at a high level for 6-12 h after the treatment, while phosphorylated p38 MAPK increased significantly 6 h after D-Galn administration. These results indicated that oxidative stress and the activation of JNK and ERK took place almost simultaneously, followed by the activation of p38 MAPK.
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PMID:Activation of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) during D-galactosamine intoxication in the rat liver. 1653 Apr 10

Glutamate-induced oxidative toxicity is mediated by glutathione depletion in the HT22 mouse hippocampal cell line. Previous results with pharmacological agents implicated the extracellular signal-regulated kinases-1/2 (ERK1/2) in glutamate toxicity in HT22 cells and immature embryonic rat cortical neurons. In this report, we definitively establish a role for ERK1/2 in oxidative toxicity using dominant negative MEK1 expression in transiently transfected HT22 cells to block glutamate-induced cell death. In contrast, chronic activation of ERK (i.e. brought about by transfection of constitutively active ERK2 chimera) is not sufficient to trigger HT22 cell death demonstrating that ERK1/2 activation is not sufficient for toxicity. Activation of ERK1/2 in HT22 cells has a distinct kinetic profile with an initial peak occurring between 30 min and 1 h of glutamate treatment and a second peak typically emerging after 6 h. We demonstrate here that the initial phase of ERK1/2 induction is because of activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor type I (mGluRI). ERK1/2 activation by mGluRI contributes to an HT22 cell adaptive response to oxidative stress as glutamate-induced toxicity is enhanced upon pharmacological inhibition of mGluRI. The protective effect of ERK1/2 activation at early times after glutamate treatment is mediated by a restoration of glutathione (GSH) levels that are reduced because of depletion of intracellular cysteine pools. Thus, ERK1/2 appears to play dual roles in HT22 cells acting as part of a cellular adaptive response during the initial phases of glutamate-induced oxidative stress and contributing to toxicity during later stages of stress.
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PMID:Opposing roles for ERK1/2 in neuronal oxidative toxicity: distinct mechanisms of ERK1/2 action at early versus late phases of oxidative stress. 1662 2

Identifying new drugs and targets for melanoma therapy is critical, considering that melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is resistant to currently available therapeutics. Much work has been focused on finding novel drugs and exploring different treatment options that could increase the overall survival of patients. In our laboratory we have developed mouse models to study melanoma. We discovered that aberrant expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (Grm1) in melanocytes promotes melanoma development in vivo. Grm1 is a seven transmembrane domain G-protein coupled receptor that is normally expressed and functional in the central nervous system. The natural ligand of Grm1 is glutamate. Signaling by the major neurotransmitter glutamate has been well characterized in neuronal cells; however glutamate signaling in other tissues is not well understood. We demonstrated that Grm1 signaling in melanoma cells is mediated by the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway, one of the major pathways previously shown to be activated in human melanoma cells. Based on these earlier studies and results from our recent work, we predict that inhibition of Grm1 signaling and its downstream cascade may potentially provide new, effective therapies for melanoma patients. In this review, we propose several attractive targets.
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PMID:From existing therapies to novel targets: a current view on melanoma. 1672 Feb 95

Hippocampal inhibitory interneurones demonstrate pathway- and synapse-specific rules of transmission and plasticity, which are key determinants of their role in controlling pyramidal cell excitability. Mechanisms underlying long-term changes at interneurone excitatory synapses, despite their importance, remain largely unknown. We use two-photon calcium imaging and whole-cell recordings to determine the Ca2+ signalling mechanisms linked specifically to group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1alpha and mGluR5) and their role in hebbian long-term potentiation (LTP) in oriens/alveus (O/A) interneurones. We demonstrate that mGluR1alpha activation elicits dendritic Ca2+ signals resulting from Ca2+ influx via transient receptor potential (TRP) channels and Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. By contrast, mGluR5 activation produces dendritic Ca2+ transients mediated exclusively by intracellular Ca2+ release. Using Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry, we show mGluR1alpha-specific extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) activation via Src in CA1 hippocampus and, in particular, in O/A interneurones. Moreover, we find that mGluR1alpha/TRP Ca2+ signals in interneurone dendrites are dependent on activation of the Src/ERK cascade. Finally, this mGluR1alpha-specific Ca2+ signalling controls LTP at interneurone synapses since blocking either TRP channels or Src/ERK and intracellular Ca2+ release prevents LTP induction. Thus, our findings uncover a novel molecular mechanism of interneurone-specific Ca2+ signalling, critical in regulating synaptic excitability in hippocampal networks.
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PMID:mGluR1/5 subtype-specific calcium signalling and induction of long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal oriens/alveus interneurones. 1674 Jun 9

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) has well-documented neuroprotective actions, which have also been shown in retinal degeneration induced by monosodium glutamate (MSG) in neonatal rats. The aim of this article was to investigate the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and cyclic adenosine 3',5'-phosphate (cAMP)-responsive element binding protein (CREB) signaling pathways by Western blot analysis in retinal degeneration induced by MSG. We found that intravitreal administration of PACAP preceding the MSG treatments induced significant increases in the phosphorylation, that is, the activation of ERK1/2 and its downstream target, CREB, 12 h after the treatment compared to the contralateral untreated eye during the first two treatments, with no further elevations 24 h after treatments. These results demonstrate that the degenerative effect of MSG and the protective effect of PACAP involve complex kinase signaling pathways and are related to cAMP/ERK/CREB activation.
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PMID:Involvement of ERK and CREB signaling pathways in the protective effect of PACAP in monosodium glutamate-induced retinal lesion. 1689 Dec 69

Glutamate receptors regulate gene expression in neurons by activating intracellular signaling cascades that phosphorylate transcription factors within the nucleus. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade is one of the best characterized cascades in this regulatory process. The Ca(2+)-permeable ionotropic glutamate receptor, mainly the NMDA receptor subtype, activates MAPKs through a biochemical route involving the Ca(2+)-sensitive Ras-guanine nucleotide releasing factor, Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase. The metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR), however, activates MAPKs primarily through a Ca(2+)-insensitve pathway involving the transactivation of receptor tyrosine kinases. The adaptor protein Homer also plays a role in this process. As an information superhighway between surface glutamate receptors and transcription factors in the nucleus, active MAPKs phosphorylate specific transcription factors (Elk-1 and CREB), and thereby regulate distinct programs of gene expression. The regulated gene expression contributes to the development of multiple forms of synaptic plasticity related to long-lasting changes in memory function and addictive properties of drugs of abuse. This review, by focusing on new data from recent years, discusses the signaling mechanisms by which different types of glutamate receptors activate MAPKs, features of each MAPK cascade in regulating gene expression, and the importance of glutamate/MAPK-dependent synaptic plasticity in memory and addiction.
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PMID:Regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinases by glutamate receptors. 1701 22

Activation of c-fos in brain is related to coupling of neuronal activity to gene expression, but also to pathological conditions such as seizures or excitotoxicity-induced cell death. Glutamate activates c-fos in neurons through the calcium-dependent phosphorylation of CREB by ERK and/or CaMKIV kinase pathways downstream NMDA-receptors. In glial cells, however, the activation of c-fos by glutamate is poorly understood. Because glial cells actively modulate neuronal excitability and the brain's response to injury, we studied the mechanisms by which glutamate activates c-fos in rat cortical glial cells. Glutamate potently induced c-fos mRNA in a calcium-dependent manner, as demonstrated by using the calcium chelator BAPTA-AM. Glutamate-induced c-fos mRNA expression was not sensitive to inhibitors of ERK, p38(MAPK), or CaMK pathways, indicating that glial c-fos is activated by a distinct mechanism. Thapsigargin abolished the glutamate effect on c-fos mRNA, indicating ER calcium mobilization. Additionally, glutamate induction of c-fos mRNA was sensitive to the mGluR5 antagonist MPEP but not the NMDA-R antagonist MK-801. In luciferase reporter assays, DRE, which actively represses c-fos by binding the calcium-binding transcriptional repressor DREAM, was activated by glutamate, whereas SRE and CRE were not. Finally, glutamate caused the nuclear export of DREAM in astrocytes, and transfection of astrocytes with a mutant variant of DREAM that constitutively binds DNA inhibited glutamate-induced c-Fos expression. These findings are in sharp contrast to the mechanism described in neurons and suggest a novel pathway activated by glutamate in glial cells that employs mGluR5, ER calcium, and the derepression of c-fos at the DRE.
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PMID:Glutamate activates c-fos in glial cells via a novel mechanism involving the glutamate receptor subtype mGlu5 and the transcriptional repressor DREAM. 1712 Feb 44


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