Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.24 (mitogen-activated protein kinase)
 95,810 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL), a recently identified member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, has been shown to induce osteoclastogenesis and dendritic cell survival. Most members of the TNF superfamily suppress cell proliferation and induce apoptosis, but whether RANKL does so is not known. We demonstrate that treatment of monocyte RAW 264.7 cells with RANKL induces dose-dependent growth inhibition (IC50 = 10 ng/ml) as determined by dye uptake and [3H]thymidine incorporation methods. Suppression of RANKL-induced NF-kappaB activation by dominant-negative IkappaBalpha or by the NEMO-peptide had no effect on RANKL-induced cell growth inhibition. Inhibition of RANKL-induced JNK activation, however, abolished the RANKL-induced apoptosis. Suppression of interaction of RANK with TRAF6 by TRAF6-binding peptide abrogated the anti-proliferative effects of RANKL, suggesting the critical role of TRAF6. Flow cytometric analysis of cells treated with RANKL showed accumulation of cells in G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, and this accumulation correlated with a decline in the levels of cyclin D1, cyclin D3, and cyclin E and an increase in cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 (Kip). Flow cytometric analysis showed the presence of annexin V-positive cells in cultures treated with RANKL. RANKL-induced apoptosis was further confirmed using calcein AM/ethidium homodimer-1 dye and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), procaspase 3, and procaspase 9; benzyloxycarbonyl-VAD, the pancaspase inhibitor, suppressed the PARP cleavage. Thus, overall, our studies indicate that RANKL can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis through a TRAF-6-dependent but NF-kappaB-independent mechanism.
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PMID:Evidence that receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB ligand can suppress cell proliferation and induce apoptosis through activation of a NF-kappaB-independent and TRAF6-dependent mechanism. 1464 59

Many cancers have constitutively activated NFkappaB, the elevation of which contributes to cancer cell resistance to chemotherapeutic agent-induced apoptosis. Although mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular-regulated kinase kinase kinase-3 (MEKK3) has been shown to participate in the activation of NFkappaB, its relations to apoptosis and cancer are unclear. In this study, we established cell model systems to examine whether stable expression of MEKK3 could lead to increased NFkappaB activity and confer resistance to apoptosis. In addition, we investigated in breast and ovarian cancers whether MEKK3 expression may be altered and correlated with aberrant NFkappaB activity. We show that stable cell lines overexpressing MEKK3 not only had elevated levels of NFkappaB binding activity but also were more responsive to cytokine stimulation. These stable cells showed 2-4-fold higher basal expression of Bcl-2 and xIAP than the parental cells. Consistent with this increased expression of cell survival genes, MEKK3 stable cells showed reduced activation of caspases 3 and 8 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and dramatically increased resistance to apoptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, doxorubicin, daunorubicin, camptothecin, and paclitaxel. Intriguingly, analysis of human breast and ovarian cancers showed that a significant fraction of these samples have elevated MEKK3 protein levels with corresponding increases in NFkappaB binding activities. Thus, our results established that elevated expression of MEKK3 appears to be a frequent occurrence in breast and ovarian cancers and that overexpression of MEKK3 in cells leads to increased NFkappaB activity and increased expression of cell survival factors and ultimately contributes to their resistance to apoptosis. As such, MEKK3 may serve as a therapeutic target to control cancer cell resistance to cytokine- or drug-induced apoptosis.
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PMID:Overexpression of MEKK3 confers resistance to apoptosis through activation of NFkappaB. 1466 59

We reported previously that cadmium, an oxidative stressor, induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) upregulation in mouse neuronal cells that culminated in cell death. Herein, we show that cadmium induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) that activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and their substrates, activating transcription factor 2 (ATF-2), CRE-binding protein (CREB) and c-Jun. This response is accompanied by induction of heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and a caspase-independent cell death. Inhibition of p38 MAPK, but not JNK, suppressed COX-2 protein expression and the cytotoxic response induced by cadmium. Selective inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3-K), LY294002, and flavoproteins, dipheneylene iodonium chloride (DPI), attenuated cadmium-induced ROS and stress kinase activation, suggesting that ROS can signal the COX-2 upregulation and neuronal cell death mediated by p38 MAPK. Collectively, these findings implicate PI3-K, a flavoprotein, p38 MAPK and COX-2 in a neuronal redox-regulated pathway that mediates cadmium-induced oxidative stress.
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PMID:Redox regulates COX-2 upregulation and cell death in the neuronal response to cadmium. 1468 64

Several polyamine analogues have efficacy against a variety of epithelial tumor models including breast cancer. Recently, a novel class of polyamine analogues designated as oligoamines has been developed. Here, we demonstrate that several representative oligoamine compounds inhibit in vitro growth of human breast cancer MDA-MB-435 cells. The activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcriptional factor family members, c-Jun and c-Fos, are up-regulated by oligoamines in MDA-MB-435 cells, suggesting a possible AP-1-dependent induction of apoptosis. However, the use of a novel c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor, SP600125, suggests that inhibition of c-Jun activity sensitized tumor cells to oligoamine-induced cell death. To directly test this hypothesis, cells were stably transfected with the dominant-negative mutant c-Jun (TAM67), which lacks the NH(2)-terminal transactivation domain. Cells overexpressing TAM67 exhibit normal growth kinetics but demonstrate a significantly increased sensitivity to oligoamine cytotoxicity and attenuated colony formation after oligoamine treatment. Furthermore, oligoamine treatment leads to more profound caspase-3 activation and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage in TAM67 transfectants, suggesting that c-Jun acts as an antiapoptosis factor in MDA-MB-435 cells in response to oligoamine treatment. These findings indicate that oligoamine-inducible AP-1 plays a prosurvival role in oligoamine-treated MDA-MB-435 cells and that JNK/AP-1 might be a potential target for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of polyamine analogues in human breast cancer.
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PMID:Regulation of polyamine analogue cytotoxicity by c-Jun in human MDA-MB-435 cancer cells. 1498 64

Activation of the nuclear enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is involved in numerous pathophysiological conditions. Because PARP-1 knockout mice are resistant to endotoxin-induced shock and inhibitors of the enzyme were reported to have similar beneficial properties, we investigated the effect of 4-hydroxyquinazoline (4-HQN), a potent PARP-1 inhibitor, on the modulation of kinase cascades and the regulation of transcription factors in a rodent septic shock model. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed the pattern of anatomical localization of the inflammatory response in bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice and the anti-inflammatory effect of the PARP-1 inhibitor. We have found that 4-HQN activated the phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3)-kinase/Akt pathway in lung, liver, and spleen, and down-regulated two elements of the MAP kinase system. Namely, it dramatically attenuated the activation of the LPS-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase in a tissue-specific manner. Furthermore, phosphorylation of p90RSK, a downstream target of ERK1/2, showed a similar pattern of down-regulation as did the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38 after LPS and 4-HQN treatment. As a consequence of the aforementioned effects on the kinase pathways, 4-HQN decreased the activation of transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and activator protein 1 (AP-1) in LPS-induced endotoxic shock. Our results provide evidence for the first time that the beneficial effects of PARP inhibition in endotoxic shock, such as attenuation of NF-kappaB- and AP-1 transcription factor activation, are mediated, at least partially, through the regulation of the PI3-kinase/Akt pathway and MAP kinase cascades.
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PMID:Regulation of kinase cascades and transcription factors by a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 inhibitor, 4-hydroxyquinazoline, in lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in mice. 1499 56

In this study, we investigated the involvement of Akt and members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) superfamily, including ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPK, in gemcitabine-induced cytotoxicity in human pancreatic cancer cells. We found that gemcitabine induces apoptosis in PK-1 and PCI-43 human pancreatic cancer cell lines. Gemcitabine specifically activated p38 MAPK in a dose- and time-dependent manner. A selective p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, significantly inhibited gemcitabine-induced apoptosis in both cell lines, suggesting that phosphorylation of p38 MAPK may play a key role in gemcitabine-induced apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. A selective JNK inhibitor, SP600125, failed to inhibit gemcitabine-induced apoptosis in both cell lines. MKK3/6, an upstream activator of p38 MAPK, was phosphorylated by gemcitabine, indicating that the MKK3/6-p38 MAPK signaling pathway is indeed involved in gemcitabine-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, gemcitabine-induced cleavage of the caspase substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase was inhibited by pretreatment with SB203580, suggesting that activation of p38 MAPK by gemcitabine induces apoptosis through caspase signaling. These results together suggest that gemcitabine-induced apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells is mediated by the MKK3/6-p38 MAPK-caspase signaling pathway. Further, these results lead us to suggest that p38 MAPK should be investigated as a novel molecular target for human pancreatic cancer therapies.
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PMID:Involvement of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in gemcitabine-induced apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells. 1500 13

The tumor suppressor p53 is a short-lived protein that under normal conditions is reduced to a barely detectable level. The stability of p53 protein is primarily regulated in normal non-transformed cells by two interplayers: Mdm2 and p14(ARF). Relocation of p53, Mdm2, and p14(ARF) to the nucleolus seems to regulate, at least partially, the steady-state of p53. Moreover, there are alternative pathways of the regulation of p53 stability in unstressed cells. Jun-N(amino)-terminal kinase (JNK) and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) are involved in the regulation of the steady-state of wild-type (wt) p53 protein. However, in most human cervical carcinomas, which express the high-risk human papilloma viruses (HPVs) E6 protein, a complete switch from Mdm2 to HPV E6-mediated degradation of p53 occurs. Virally encoded E6 protein utilizes the cellular ubiquitin-protein ligase termed E6-associated protein (E6-AP) to target p53 protein for proteolytic degradation. We recently addressed the question of whether p53 protein can be generally reactivated by chemotherapy in HeLa cells despite the E6 activity. We observed an increase of cellular p53 after cisplatin (CP) treatment. p53 protein accumulated preferentially in the nucleoli. We checked the cellular level of E6 during CP therapy. Six hours after application of CP the expression of E6 protein was markedly reduced. This coincided with the increase of cellular p53 level and preceded the nucleolar accumulation of p53 protein, thereby indicating that repression of virally coded E6 protein by CP contributes to the restoration of p53 expression.
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PMID:How the nucleolar sequestration of p53 protein or its interplayers contributes to its (re)-activation. 1503 32

1 Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion is associated with inflammation, apoptosis and necrosis. During this process, c-jun N-terminal kinase is activated in cardiac myocytes resulting in apoptosis. 2 This study investigates the effects of AS601245, a nonpeptide ATP competitive JNK inhibitor, on infarct size caused by myocardial ischemia/reperfusion in anaesthetized rats. The left descending coronary artery of anaesthetized rats was occluded for 30 min and then reperfused for 3 h. AS601245 was administered 5 min before the end of the ischemia period as an i.v. bolus (1.5, 4.5 or 15 mg kg(-1) i.v.) followed by continuous i.v. infusion (18, 55 and 183 microg kg(-1) min(-1), respectively) during reperfusion. Controls received saline only. 3-Aminobenzamide, a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor, was used as reference compound at 10 mg kg(-1) i.v. bolus plus 0.17 mg kg(-1) min(-1) continuous infusion. 3 AS601245 significantly reduced infarct size at 4.5 mg kg(-1) (-44%; P<0.001) and 15 mg kg(-1) i.v. (-40.3%; P<0.001) similarly to 3-aminobenzamide (-44.2%; P<0.001). This protective effect was obtained without affecting hemodynamics or reducing ST-segment displacement. 4 The beneficial effects on infarct size correlated well with the reduction of c-jun phosphorylation (-85%; P<0.001 versus control) and of TUNEL-positive cells (-82.1%; P<0.001) in post-ischemic cardiomyocytes. No change in the phosphorylation state of p38 MAPK and ERK in post-ischemic heart was observed in the presence of AS601245 in comparison to the vehicle-treated group. 5 These results demonstrate that blocking the JNK pathway may represent a novel therapeutic approach for treating myocardial ischemia/reperfusion-induced cardiomyocyte death.
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PMID:Inhibition of c-Jun N-terminal kinase decreases cardiomyocyte apoptosis and infarct size after myocardial ischemia and reperfusion in anaesthetized rats. 1521 May 84

We examined the effect of inhibiting p38 MAPK on UVA-irradiated HaCaT cells, a spontaneously immortalized human keratinocyte cell line. Recent work from our laboratory has shown that UVA (250 kJ/m2) induces a rapid phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in the HaCaT cell line. Inhibition of p38 MAPK activity through the use of a specific inhibitor, SB202190, in combination with UVA treatment induced a rapid cleavage of caspase-9, caspase-8, and caspase-3, whereas UVA irradiation alone had no effect. Similarly, cleavage of the caspase substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase was observed in UVA-irradiated HaCaT cells treated with SB202190 or in cells expressing a dominant-negative p38 MAPK. No effect of p38 MAPK inhibition upon caspase cleavage was observed in mock-irradiated HaCaT cells. In addition, increases in apoptosis were observed in UVA-irradiated cells treated with SB202190 by morphological analysis with no significant apoptosis occurring from UVA irradiation alone. Similar results were obtained by using normal human epidermal keratinocytes. UVA induced expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member, Bcl-XL, with abrogation of expression by using the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB202190. Overexpression of Bcl-XL prevented poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage induced by the combination of UVA and p38 MAPK inhibition. UVA enhanced the stability of Bcl-XL mRNA through increases in p38 MAPK activity. We determined that increases in UVA-induced expression of Bcl-XL occur through a posttranscriptional mechanism mediated by the 3'-untranslated region (UTR). We used Bcl-XL 3'-UTR luciferase constructs to determine the mechanism by which UVA increased Bcl-XL mRNA stability. Additionally, RNA binding studies indicate that UVA increases the binding of RNA-binding proteins to Bcl-XL 3'-UTR mRNA, which can be decreased by using SB202190. In conclusion, p38 MAPK and Bcl-XL expression play critical roles in the survival of UVA-irradiated HaCaT cells.
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PMID:Ultraviolet A-induced modulation of Bcl-XL by p38 MAPK in human keratinocytes: post-transcriptional regulation through the 3'-untranslated region. 1529 26

Rat neonatal ventricular myocytes exposed to simulated ischaemia and reperfusion (SI/R) were used as an in vitro model to delineate the role(s) of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal protein kinase (JNK), as well as PKB in apoptosis. Exposure of the myocytes to SI (simulated ischaemia - energy depletion induced by KCN and 2-deoxy- D-glucose) reduced cell viability, as measured by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and stimulated apoptosis as evidenced by caspase-3 activation and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage. However, morphological evidence of increased apoptosis, detected by staining with Hoechst 33342, was only seen in response to reperfusion. This suggests that although ischaemic conditions are sufficient to induce cellular markers of apoptosis (PARP cleavage and caspase-3 activation), reperfusion is required to complete the apoptotic pathway in these cells. Furthermore, SI resulted in a rapid, strong, biphasic activation of p38 concomitant with a weak and transient activation of the two ERK isoenzymes, p42/p44-MAPK. Reperfusion for 5 minutes resulted in a strong phosphorylation of p42/p44-MAPK, while no additional p38 activation was seen at this stage. On the other hand, p46/p54-MAPK (JNK) was phosphorylated in response to 5 minutes of reperfusion only and not during SI alone. A peak of PKB/Akt (Ser(473)) activity was seen within 5 minutes of exposure to SI, whereas PKB/Akt (Thr(308)) phosphorylation remained at the baseline level. Both PKB/Akt phosphorylation sites (Ser(473) and Thr(308)) were phosphorylated after 5 minutes of reperfusion. Inhibition of PI-3-kinase activity, using wortmannin, decreased phosphorylation on both sites during SI. However, only SI/R-induced PKB/Akt phosphorylation on Thr(308) was reduced by wortmannin. Myocytes pre-treated with SB203580, a p38-inhibitor, displayed a significant increase in cell viability [63.67 +/- 1.85 to 84.33 +/- 4.8% (p < 0.05)] and attenuation of the apoptotic index during SI/R [22.6 +/- 2.94% to 9 +/- 0.43% (p < 0.001)], while SP600125, a specific JNK inhibitor, caused a significant increase in caspase-3 activation [1.66 +/- 0.03 fold to 2.56 +/- 0.27 fold (p < 0.001)] and apoptotic index [22.6 +/- 2.94% to 32.75 +/- 6.13% (p < 0.05)]. However, PD98059, an ERK inhibitor, failed to affect apoptosis during SI/R. Inhibition of PI-3-kinase prevented the increase in mitochondrial viability usually observed during reperfusion. Interestingly, wortmannin caused a significant increase in PARP cleavage during reperfusion, but had no effect on caspase-3 activation or the apoptotic index. Our results suggest that p38 has a pro-apoptotic role while JNK phosphorylation is protective in our cell model and that these kinases act via caspase-3 to prevent or promote cell survival in response to SI/R-induced injury.
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PMID:p38 and JNK have distinct regulatory functions on the development of apoptosis during simulated ischaemia and reperfusion in neonatal cardiomyocytes. 1530 13


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