Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.11.24 (mitogen-activated protein kinase)
95,810 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME) is an endogenous metabolite of estradiol-17beta and the oral contraceptive agent 17-ethylestradiol. 2-ME was recently reported to inhibit endothelial cell proliferation. The current study was undertaken to explore the mechanism of 2-ME effects on endothelial cells, especially whether 2-ME induces apoptosis, a prime mechanism in tissue remodeling and angiogenesis. Cultured bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (BPAEC) exposed to 2-ME showed morphological (including ultrastructural) features characteristic of apoptosis: cell shrinkage, cytoplasmic and nuclear condensation, and cell blebbing. 2-ME-induced apoptosis in BPAEC was a time- and concentration-dependent process (EC50 = 0.45 +/- 0.09 microM, n = 8). Nucleosomal DNA fragmentation in BPAEC treated with 2-ME was identified by agarose gel electrophoresis (DNA ladder) as well as in situ nick end labeling. Under the same experimental conditions, estradiol-17beta and two of its other metabolites, estriol and 2-methoxyestriol (< or =10 microM), did not have an apoptotic effect on BPAEC. 2-ME activated stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK)/c-Jun amino-terminal protein kinase in BPAEC in a concentration-dependent manner. The activity of SAPK was increased by 170 +/- 27% and 314 +/- 22% over the basal level in the presence of 0.4 and 2 microM 2-ME (n = 3-6), respectively. The activation of SAPK was detected at 10 min, peaked at 20 min, and returned to basal levels at 60 min after exposure to 2-ME. Inhibition of SAPK/c-Jun amino-terminal protein kinase activation by basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factor, or forskolin reduced 2-ME-induced apoptosis. Immunohistochemical analysis of BPAEC indicated that 2-ME up-regulated expression of both Fas and Bcl-2. In addition, 2-ME inhibited BPAEC migration (IC50 = 0.71 +/- 0.11 microM, n = 4) and basic fibroblast growth factor-induced angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane model. Taken together, these results suggest that promotion of endothelial cell apoptosis, thereby inhibiting endothelial cell proliferation and migration, may be a major mechanism by which 2-ME inhibits angiogenesis.
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PMID:2-Methoxyestradiol, an endogenous estrogen metabolite, induces apoptosis in endothelial cells and inhibits angiogenesis: possible role for stress-activated protein kinase signaling pathway and Fas expression. 918 61

The stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs), also known as c-Jun amino-terminal kinases (JNKs), are activated in response to diverse stimuli including DNA damage, heat shock, interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and Fas. Although all these inducers cause apoptosis, whether SAPK/JNK activation is required for apoptosis is controversial. In this study, we demonstrate that ionizing radiation (IR) and dexamethasone (Dex) induce apoptosis in multiple myeloma (MM) derived cell lines, as well as in patient cells. IR-induced apoptosis is associated with activation of SAPK/JNK and p38 kinase, in contrast to Dex-induced apoptosis, which is not associated with activation of stress kinases. Moreover, Dex-induced apoptosis is associated with a significant decrease in the activities of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p70S6K, whereas IR-treatment does not alter the activity of these kinases. Both IR and Dex induce poly (ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, a signature event of apoptosis. Finally, interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibits Dex-induced apoptosis, downregulation of MAP and p70S6K growth kinases and PARP cleavage; in contrast, IL-6 does not inhibit IR-induced apoptosis, activation of SAPK/JNK, and PARP cleavage. Taken together, our findings suggest that SAPK/JNK activation is not required for apoptosis in MM cells, and that there are at least two distinct apoptotic signaling pathways: (i) SAPK/JNK-associated, which is induced by IR and unaffected by IL-6; and (ii) SAPK/JNK-independent, which is induced by Dex, associated with downregulation of MAPK and p70S6K and inhibited by IL-6.
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PMID:Dexamethasone induces apoptosis of multiple myeloma cells in a JNK/SAP kinase independent mechanism. 926 70

We report here that anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin lead to induction of the CD95 (APO-1/Fas) system of apoptosis and the cellular stress pathway which includes JNK/SAPKs. Ceramide, which accumulates in response to different types of cellular stress such as chemo- and radiotherapy, strongly induced expression of CD95-L, cleavage of caspases and apoptosis. Antisense CD95-L as well as dominant-negative FADD inhibited ceramide- and cellular stress-induced apoptosis. Fibroblasts from type A Niemann-Pick patients (NPA), genetically deficient in ceramide synthesis, failed to up-regulate CD95-L expression and to undergo apoptosis after gamma-irradiation or doxorubicin treatment. In contrast, JNK/SAPK activity was still inducible by doxorubicin in the NPA cells, suggesting that activation of JNK/SAPKs alone is not sufficient for induction of the CD95 system and apoptosis. CD95-L expression and apoptosis in NPA fibroblasts were restorable by exogenously added ceramide. In addition, NPA fibroblasts undergo apoptosis after triggering of CD95 with an agonistic antibody. These data demonstrate that ceramide links cellular stress responses induced by gamma-irradiation or anticancer drugs to the CD95 pathway of apoptosis.
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PMID:Activation of CD95 (APO-1/Fas) signaling by ceramide mediates cancer therapy-induced apoptosis. 932 99

IL-1beta converting enzyme (ICE) family cysteine proteases are subdivided into three groups; ICE-, CPP32-, and Ich-1-like proteases. In Fas-induced apoptosis, activation of ICE-like proteases is followed by activation of CPP32-like proteases which is thought to be essential for execution of the cell death. It was recently reported that two subfamily members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase superfamily, JNK/SAPK and p38, are activated during Fas-induced apoptosis. Here, we have shown that MKK7, but not SEK1/ MKK4, is activated by Fas as an activator for JNK/ SAPK and that MKK6 is a major activator for p38 in Fas signaling. Then, to dissect various cellular responses induced by Fas, we used several peptide inhibitors for ICE family proteases in Fas-treated Jurkat cells and KB cells. While Z-VAD-FK which inhibited almost all the Fas-induced cellular responses blocked the activation of JNK/SAPK and p38, Ac-DEVD-CHO and Z-DEVD-FK, specific inhibitors for CPP32-like proteases, which inhibited the Fas-induced chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation did not block the activation of JNK/SAPK and p38. Interestingly, these DEVD-type inhibitors did not block the Fas-induced morphological changes (cell shrinkage and surface blebbing), induction of Apo2.7 antigen, or the cell death (as assessed by the dye exclusion ability). These results suggest that the Fas-induced activation of the JNK/SAPK and p38 signaling pathways does not require CPP32-like proteases and that CPP32-like proteases, although essential for apoptotic nuclear events (such as chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation), are not required for other apoptotic events in the cytoplasm or the cell death itself. Thus, the Fas signaling pathway diverges into multiple, separate processes, each of which may be responsible for part of the apoptotic cellular responses.
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PMID:Fas induces cytoplasmic apoptotic responses and activation of the MKK7-JNK/SAPK and MKK6-p38 pathways independent of CPP32-like proteases. 936 18

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is a potent inhibitor of hematopoiesis in vitro and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of human bone marrow failure syndromes. IFN-gamma both inhibits cell cycling and induces expression of the Fas-receptor, resulting in subsequent apoptosis of hematopoietic progenitor cells. IFN regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) mediates some of these suppressive effects by activation of downstream inducible genes, such as double-stranded RNA-activatable protein kinase and inducible nitric oxide synthase. However, under certain experimental conditions, IFN-gamma appears to stimulate proliferation of hematopoietic cells. Based on the hypothesis that IFN-gamma-receptor triggering may activate diverse signaling cascades, we designed experiments to determine which intracellular mechanisms (in addition to the IRF-1 transduction pathway) influence the biologic effects of IFN-gamma. Using antisense technique, we inhibited the IRF-1-mediated pathway in KG1a cells stimulated with IFN-gamma. In contrast to the suppressive effects of IFN-gamma observed in control cells, untreated and IFN-gamma-treated KG-1a cells that were transduced with retroviral vectors expressing IRF-1 antisense mRNA showed enhanced proliferation. The increased growth rate was associated with decreased levels of IRF-1 mRNA and protein but unchanged levels of IRF-2. We inferred that IFN-gamma could also activate a stimulatory transduction pathway that, under specific conditions, may control the cellular response to this cytokine. The family of Stat proteins is involved in signal transduction of hematopoietic growth factors. We showed that, in KG-1a cells, IFN-gamma also induced phosphorylation of Stat1 and Stat3, whereas p42 MAP kinase was phosphorylated regardless of the presence of IFN-gamma. Using electrophoresis mobility shift assays, IFN-gamma enhanced Stat1-Stat1 homodimer and Stat1-Stat3 heterodimer formation, suggesting that, in addition to inhibitory signals mediated by IRF-1, IFN-gamma may activate proliferative signals by phosphorylation of Stat1 and Stat3 proteins. The observations made in experiments with KG-1a cells were confirmed in primary hematopoietic cells. After inhibition of the IRF-1 pathway by transduction of an antisense IRF-1 retrovirus into human CD34+ cells, IFN-gamma produced an aberrant stimulatory effect on hematopoietic colony formation. Conversely, in control vector-transduced CD34+ cells, the typical inhibitory response to IFN-gamma was seen. Our results indicate that inhibitory cytokines such as IFN-gamma may exhibit diverse biologic effects depending on the intracellular balance of transcriptional regulators, in turn influenced by the activation and differentiation status of the target cells.
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PMID:Inhibition of interferon regulatory factor-1 expression results in predominance of cell growth stimulatory effects of interferon-gamma due to phosphorylation of Stat1 and Stat3. 938 91

Proteins subject to proteolysis or phosphorylation during apoptosis are commonly precipitated by autoantibodies found in the serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We screened a panel of murine monoclonal and human monospecific sera reactive with known autoantigens for their ability to selectively precipitate phosphoproteins from apoptotic Jurkat T cell lysates. Sera known to recognize the U1-small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) complex (confirmed by their ability to precipitate U1-snRNA) selectively precipitated a phosphoprotein complex (pp54, pp42, pp34, and pp23) from apoptotic lysates. Monoclonal antibodies reactive with U1-snRNP proteins precipitated the same phosphoprotein complex from apoptotic lysates. The phosphorylation and/or recruitment of these proteins to the U1-snRNP complex is induced by multiple apoptotic stimuli (e.g., Fas ligation, gamma irradiation, or UV irradiation), and is blocked by overexpression of bcl-2. The U1-snRNP-associated phosphoprotein complex is immunoprecipitated by monoclonal antibodies reactive with serine/arginine (SR) proteins that comprise a structurally related family of splicing factors. The association of phosphorylated SR proteins with the U1-snRNP complex in cells undergoing apoptosis suggests a mechanism for regulation of alternative splicing of apoptotic effector molecules.
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PMID:Association of phosphorylated serine/arginine (SR) splicing factors with the U1-small ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) autoantigen complex accompanies apoptotic cell death. 946 5

Carvedilol, a new vasodilating beta-adrenoceptor antagonist and a potent antioxidant, produces a high degree of cardioprotection in a variety of experimental models of ischemic cardiac injury. Recent clinical studies in patients with heart failure have demonstrated that carvedilol reduces morbidity and mortality and inhibits cardiac remodeling. The present study was designed to explore whether the protective effects of carvedilol on the ischemic myocardium include inhibition of apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and, if so, to determine its mechanism of action. Anesthetized rabbits were subjected to 30 minutes of coronary artery occlusion followed by 4 hours of reperfusion. Detection of apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was based on the presence of nucleosomal DNA fragments on agarose gels (DNA ladder) and in situ nick end labeling. Carvedilol (1 mg/kg IV), administered 5 minutes before reperfusion, reduced the number of apoptotic myocytes in the ischemic area from 14.7 +/- 0.4% to 3.4 +/- 1.8% (77% reduction, P<.001). Propranolol, administered at equipotent beta-blocking dosage, reduced the number of apoptotic myocytes to 8.9 +/- 2.1% (39% reduction, P<.05). DNA ladders were observed in the hearts of all six vehicle-treated rabbits but only one of six carvedilol-treated rabbits (P<.01). Immunocytochemical analysis of rabbit hearts demonstrated an upregulation of Fas protein in ischemic cardiomyocytes, and treatment with carvedilol reduced both the intensity of staining as well as the area stained. Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion led to a rapid activation of stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) in the ischemic area but not in nonischemic regions. SAPK activity was increased from 2.1 +/- 0.3 mU/mg (basal) to 8.9 +/- 0.8 mU/mg after 30 minutes of ischemia followed by 20 minutes of reperfusion. Carvedilol inhibited the activation of SAPK by 53.4 +/- 6.5% (P<.05). Under the same conditions, propranolol (1 mg/kg) had no effect on SAPK activation. Taken together, these results suggest that carvedilol prevents myocardial ischemia/reperfusion-induced apoptosis in cardiomyocytes possibly by downregulation of the SAPK signaling pathway, by inhibition of Fas receptor expression, and by beta-adrenergic blockade. The former two actions represent novel and important mechanisms that may contribute to the cardioprotective effects of carvedilol.
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PMID:Possible involvement of stress-activated protein kinase signaling pathway and Fas receptor expression in prevention of ischemia/reperfusion-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by carvedilol. 946 87

Caspases are activated during apoptosis and cleave specific proteins, resulting in the irreversible commitment to cell death. The signal transduction proteins MEKK1, p21-activated kinase 2, and focal adhesion kinase are caspase substrates that contribute to the cell death response when cleaved. Thirty additional signaling proteins were screened for their ability to be cleaved during apoptosis. Twenty-two of these proteins were not affected in Jurkat cells stimulated to undergo apoptosis by Fas ligation, exposure to ultraviolet-C or incubation with etoposide. Ras GTPase-activating protein was found to be a caspase substrate whose cleavage followed the same time course as that for activation of caspase activity and the cleavage of MEKK1 and focal adhesion kinase. Four additional proteins, Cbl, Cbl-b, Raf-1, and Akt-1, were cleaved later in the apoptotic response. These signaling proteins were similarly cleaved in U937 cells undergoing apoptosis. Cleavage of the proteins was blocked by caspase inhibitors in Jurkat cells or in U937 cells expressing BclxL, demonstrating that the cleavage was dependent on caspase activation. Cleavage of Raf-1 and Akt correlated with the loss of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Akt activities in apoptotic cells. Neither c-Jun N-terminal kinase nor p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase was cleaved in cells undergoing apoptosis, and the activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways was not compromised in apoptotic cells. These results indicate that caspase-dependent cleavage of specific proteins induces the turn off of survival pathways, such as the extracellular signal-regulated kinase and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt pathways, that could otherwise interfere with the apoptotic response.
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PMID:Caspase-dependent cleavage of signaling proteins during apoptosis. A turn-off mechanism for anti-apoptotic signals. 950 28

Jurkat T cells undergo rapid apoptosis upon stimulation of the Fas/APO-1 (CD95) receptor. We examined the role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade as a negative regulator of Fas-mediated apoptosis. To this end, we used both physiologic and artificial activators of MAPK, all of which activate MAPK by distinct routes. MAPK activity could be efficiently elevated by two T cell mitogens, the lectin PHA and an agonistic Ab to the T cell receptor complex as well as by the type 1 and 2A phosphatase inhibitor, calyculin A, and the protein kinase C-activating phorbol ester, tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate. All these treatments were effective in preventing the characteristic early and late features of Fas-mediated apoptosis, including activation of caspases. Our results indicate that the elevated MAPK activities intervene upstream of caspase activation. The degree of MAPK activation by the different stimuli used in our study corresponds well to their potency to inhibit apoptosis, indicating that MAPK activation serves as an efficient modulator of Fas-mediated apoptosis. The role of MAPK in modulation of Fas-mediated apoptosis was further corroborated by transient transfection with constitutively active MAPK kinase, resulting in complete inhibition of the Fas response, whereas transfection with a dominant negative form of MAPK kinase had no effect. Furthermore, the apoptosis inhibitory effect of the MAPK activators could be abolished by the specific MAPK kinase inhibitor PD 098059. Modulation of Fas responses by MAPK signaling may determine the persistence of an immune response and may explain the insensitivity of recently activated T cells to Fas receptor stimulation.
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PMID:Suppression of Fas/APO-1-mediated apoptosis by mitogen-activated kinase signaling. 951 Jan 60

Human neutrophils undergo apoptosis spontaneously when cultured in vitro; however, the signal transduction pathways involved remain largely unknown. In some cell types, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) have been implicated in the pathways leading to stress-induced apoptosis. In this study, we begin to define two pathways leading to apoptosis in the neutrophil induced either by stress stimuli (UV, hyperosmolarity, sphingosine) or by anti-Fas antibody or overnight culture in vitro (spontaneous apoptosis). Apoptosis induced by stress stimuli activated p38 MAPK, and apoptosis was inhibited by the specific p38 MAPK inhibitor, 6-(4-Fluorophenyl)-2.3-dihydro-5-(4-puridinyl)imidazo(2, 1-beta)thiazole dihydrochloride. Furthermore, differentiation of HL-60 cells toward the neutrophil phenotype resulted in a loss in c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase activation with concomitant acquisition of formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine-stimulatable and stress-inducible p38 MAPK activity as well as apoptosis blockade by the p38 MAPK inhibitor. In contrast, anti-Fas-induced or spontaneous apoptosis occurred independent of p38 MAPK activation and was not blocked by the inhibitor. Both pathways appear to utilize member(s) of the caspase family, since pretreatment with either Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone or Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone inhibited apoptosis induced by each of the stimuli. We propose the presence of at least two pathways leading to apoptosis in human neutrophils, a stress-activated pathway that is dependent on p38 MAPK activation and an anti-FAS/spontaneous pathway that is p38 MAPK-independent.
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PMID:p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent and -independent intracellular signal transduction pathways leading to apoptosis in human neutrophils. 952 49


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