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)

A variety of injuries, such as bacterial infection or ischemic tissue necrosis, induce systemic acute phase reaction expressed as fever, leukocytosis, release of several hormones, activation of clotting, complement and kinin forming pathways, and drastic increase of synthesis of certain plasma proteins. The reaction is triggered by 'alarm molecules', including free radicals, which activate several stress-sensitive protein kinases (ERK, p38, JNK) in macrophages and other responsive cells. These kinases phosphorylate, usually in a multi-step cascade, transcription factors belonging primarily to C/EBP, NF-kappa B and AP-1 families. Active transcription factors after translocation to nucleus interact with responsive elements in the gene promoters of acute-phase cytokines: tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 and interleukin-6. Enhanced transcription of these genes is usually followed by rapid translation and precursor protein processing leading to the release of biologically active cytokines. Fine tuning of the acute phase response appears to be regulated at all stages: primary signals, kinase cascades, transcription factors, mRNA stability and translation, cytokine precursor processing, secretion and bioavailability. This makes possible designing of specific inhibitors of cytokine synthesis as potential therapeutic drugs.
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PMID:Initiation of acute phase response and synthesis of cytokines. 895 Jan 92

The reduction in levels of the potentially toxic amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) has emerged as one of the most important therapeutic goals in Alzheimer's disease. Key targets for this goal are factors that affect the expression and processing of the Abeta precursor protein (betaAPP). Earlier reports from our laboratory have shown that a novel cholinesterase inhibitor, phenserine, reduces betaAPP levels in vivo. Herein, we studied the mechanism of phenserine's actions to define the regulatory elements in betaAPP processing. Phenserine treatment resulted in decreased secretion of soluble betaAPP and Abeta into the conditioned media of human neuroblastoma cells without cellular toxicity. The regulation of betaAPP protein expression by phenserine was posttranscriptional as it suppressed betaAPP protein expression without altering betaAPP mRNA levels. However, phenserine's action was neither mediated through classical receptor signaling pathways, involving extracellular signal-regulated kinase or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation, nor was it associated with the anticholinesterase activity of the drug. Furthermore, phenserine reduced expression of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter fused to the 5'-mRNA leader sequence of betaAPP without altering expression of a control chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter. These studies suggest that phenserine reduces Abeta levels by regulating betaAPP translation via the recently described iron regulatory element in the 5'-untranslated region of betaAPP mRNA, which has been shown previously to be up-regulated in the presence of interleukin-1. This study identifies an approach for the regulation of betaAPP expression that can result in a substantial reduction in the level of Abeta.
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PMID:Phenserine regulates translation of beta -amyloid precursor protein mRNA by a putative interleukin-1 responsive element, a target for drug development. 1140 70

In the central nervous system, glial cells play an important role in inflammatory and immune responses, and opioid peptides have been identified as essential mediators between the nervous and the immune systems. We report the profound upregulation of the opioid-related nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) by inflammatory mediators in astrocytes. The bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin-beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), induced levels of N/OFQ mRNA and immunoreactivity. HPLC analysis of the immunoreactivity in astrocyte extracts revealed that a large molecular weight precursor for N/OFQ is being synthesized and released in response to LPS and astrocytes appear to lack the enzymes required to process the precursor protein. Western blot analysis showed that LPS treatment elicited the activation of ERK 1/2 and p38 MAP kinases. Blockade of the p38 or the ERK MAP kinase pathways prevented the LPS-induced increase in N/OFQ mRNA levels indicating a role for these cascades in the regulation of N/OFQ genes in response to LPS. Regulation of N/OFQ gene expression by ERK and p38 activation may be mediated through the transcription factor CREB. We observed CREB phosphorylation in response to LPS, which was also prevented by SB202190 and PD98059. The NFkappaB pathway also appears to be involved in the induction of N/OFQ transcription by LPS, since NFkappaB inhibitors antagonized the effect of LPS on N/OFQ expression. Regulation of N/OFQ by inflammatory mediators in astrocytes may suggest a role for N/OFQ in neural-glial communication and in inflammatory responses in certain neuropathophysiological conditions.
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PMID:Inflammatory mediators increase the expression of nociceptin/orphanin FQ in rat astrocytes in culture. 1220 90

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) exists both as a membrane-integrated type II precursor protein and a soluble cytokine that have different bioactivities on TNFR2 (CD120b) but not on TNFR1 (CD120a). To identify the molecular basis of this disparity, we have investigated receptor chimeras comprising the cytoplasmic part of Fas (CD95) and the extracellular domains of the two TNF receptors. The membrane form of TNF, but not its soluble form, was capable of inducing apoptosis as well as activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and NF-kappaB via the TNFR2-derived chimera. In contrast, the TNFR1-Fas chimera displayed strong responsiveness to both TNF forms. This pattern of responsiveness is identical to that of wild type TNF receptors, demonstrating that the underlying mechanisms are independent of the particular type of the intracellular signaling machinery and rather are controlled upstream of the intracellular domain. We further demonstrate that the signaling strength induced by a given ligand/receptor interaction is regulated at the level of adaptor protein recruitment, as shown for FADD, caspase-8, and TRAF2. Since both incidents, strong signaling and robust adapter protein recruitment, are paralleled by a high stability of individual ligand-receptor complexes, we propose that half-lives of individual ligand-receptor complexes control signaling at the level of adaptor protein recruitment.
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PMID:Control of receptor-induced signaling complex formation by the kinetics of ligand/receptor interaction. 1221 50

Amyloid precursor protein (APP), the precursor of Abeta, has been shown to function as a cell surface receptor that mediates neuronal cell death by anti-APP antibody. The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) can mediate various neurotoxic signals, including Abeta neurotoxicity. However, the relationship of APP-mediated neurotoxicity to JNK is not clear, partly because APP cytotoxicity is Abeta independent. Here we examined whether JNK is involved in APP-mediated neuronal cell death and found that: (i) neuronal cell death by antibody-bound APP was inhibited by dominant-negative JNK, JIP-1b and SP600125, the specific inhibitor of JNK, but not by SB203580 or PD98059; (ii) constitutively active (ca) JNK caused neuronal cell death and (iii) the pharmacological profile of caJNK-mediated cell death closely coincided with that of APP-mediated cell death. Pertussis toxin (PTX) suppressed APP-mediated cell death but not caJNK-induced cell death, which was suppressed by Humanin, a newly identified neuroprotective factor which inhibits APP-mediated cytotoxicity. In the presence of PTX, the PTX-resistant mutant of Galphao, but not that of Galphai, recovered the cytotoxic action of APP. These findings demonstrate that JNK is involved in APP-mediated neuronal cell death as a downstream signal transducer of Go.
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PMID:Involvement of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in amyloid precursor protein-mediated neuronal cell death. 1256 29

To develop a therapeutic intervention for Alzheimer's disease (AD), it is necessary to clarify the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of AD, in which senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and neuronal loss in the cerebrum are the central abnormalities. A number of studies have focused on the major component of the senile plaques, which is amyloid-beta (Abeta) and its precursor protein APP, and have investigated the roles of these molecules in the onset, progression and inhibition of AD. For multiple reasons, however, their roles in AD, especially in neuronal death, remain elusive and a unified concept for their roles has not yet been established. Recently, it has been found that APP functions normally as a neuronal surface transmembrane protein. In this article, we review the molecular mechanisms of neuronal cell death by these APP-relevant insults and discuss the functions of APP in regard to intracellular signal transducers, including c-Jun N-terminal kinase. We also revise the roles of Abeta in neuronal death and survival.
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PMID:Molecular mechanisms for neuronal cell death by Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein-relevant insults. 1256 25

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C is a lymphangiogenic factor implicated in lymphatic metastasis. In this study, we investigated the role of the type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR) in the regulation of VEGF-C expression. We used Lewis lung carcinoma subline M-27 cells transfected with human IGF-IR cDNA. These cells, but not the wild-type cells, expressed VEGF-C mRNA, produced a M(r) 58,000 VEGF-C precursor protein, and secreted a M(r) 29,000 processed form in response to IGF-I. In vivo, they acquired a lymph node metastasizing potential. VEGF-C induction was abolished in cells expressing an IGF-IR with tyrosine-phenylalanine substitutions in the kinase domain, but not in the COOH-terminal domain. The induction was phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase dependent and, to a lesser extent, mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling dependent, as determined by the use of the respective inhibitors LY294002 (84.6% reduction) and PD98059 (38% reduction). The results identify the IGF-IR as a positive regulator of VEGF-C expression and implicate it in the control of lymphatic metastasis.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor C expression and lymph node metastasis are regulated by the type I insulin-like growth factor receptor. 1264 70

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is the precursor molecule of beta-amyloid peptides, the major components of amyloid plaque in patients with Alzheimer's disease. In this study, we isolated JIP-1b, a JNK signaling scaffold protein, as a binding protein of APP, and analyzed the roles of JIP-1b in APP phosphorylation by JNK and the association of kinesin light chain 1 with APP. APP phosphorylation at threonine 668 by JNK was enhanced on the JIP-1b scaffold in vitro and in cultured cells exogenously expressing APP. APP phosphorylation in nerve growth factor-differentiated PC12 cells was mediated by activation of JNK signaling. JIP-1b also enhanced the association of kinesin light chain 1 with APP. Our results suggest that JIP-1b may function as a protein linking the kinesin-I motor protein to the cargo receptor, APP, and that the JNK signaling pathway may regulate the phosphorylation of this cargo protein through the JIP-1b scaffold.
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PMID:A scaffold protein JIP-1b enhances amyloid precursor protein phosphorylation by JNK and its association with kinesin light chain 1. 1266 28

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) belongs to a conserved gene family, also including the amyloid precursor-like proteins, APLP1 and APLP2. The function of these three proteins is not yet fully understood. One of the proposed roles of APP is to promote neurite outgrowth. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulation of the expression levels of APP family members during neurite outgrowth. We observed that retinoic acid (RA)-induced neuronal differentiation of human SH-SY5Y cells resulted in increased expression of APP, APLP1 and APLP2. We also examined the effect of the NFkappaB, AP-1 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor curcumin (diferuloylmethane) on the RA-induced expression levels of these proteins. We found that treatment with curcumin counteracted the RA-induced mRNA expression of all APP family members. In addition, we observed that curcumin treatment resulted in neurite retraction without any effect on cell viability. Surprisingly, curcumin had differential effects on the APLP protein levels in RA-differentiated cells. RA-induced APLP1 protein expression was blocked by curcumin, while the APLP2 protein levels were further increased. APP protein levels were not affected by curcumin treatment. We propose that the sustained levels of APP and the elevated levels of APLP2, in spite of the reduced mRNA expression, are due to altered proteolytic processing of these proteins. Furthermore, our results suggest that APLP1 does not undergo the same type of regulated processing as APP and APLP2.
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PMID:Accumulation of the amyloid precursor-like protein APLP2 and reduction of APLP1 in retinoic acid-differentiated human neuroblastoma cells upon curcumin-induced neurite retraction. 1459 30

Amyloid precursor protein (AbetaPP), a precursor of amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide, is one of the molecules involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Specific mutations in AbetaPP have been found in patients inheriting familial AD (FAD). These mutant AbetaPP proteins cause cell death in neuronal cell lines in vitro, but the molecular mechanism of cytotoxicity has not yet been clarified completely. We analyzed the cytotoxic mechanisms of the London-type AbetaPP mutant, V642I-AbetaPP, in primary cortical neurons utilizing an adenovirus-mediated gene transfer system. Expression of V642I-AbetaPP protein induced degeneration of the primary neurons. This cytotoxicity was blocked by pertussis toxin, a specific inhibitor for heterotrimeric G proteins, Go/i, and was suppressed by an inhibitor of caspase-3/7 and an antioxidant, glutathione ethyl ester. A specific inhibitor for NADPH oxidase, apocynin, but not a xanthine oxidase inhibitor or a nitric oxide inhibitor, blocked V642I-AbetaPP-induced cytotoxicity. Among mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family proteins, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38MAPK, but not extracellular regulated kinase (ERK), were involved in this cytotoxic pathway. The V642I-AbetaPP-induced cytotoxicity was not suppressed by two secretase inhibitors, suggesting that Abeta does not play a major role in this cytotoxicity. Two neuroprotective factors, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and Humanin, protected these primary neurons from V642I-AbetaPP-induced cytotoxicity. Furthermore, interleukin-6 and -11 also attenuated this cytotoxicity. This study demonstrated that the signaling pathway activated by mutated AbetaPP in the primary neurons is the same as that by the other artificial insults such as antibody binding to AbetaPP and the artificial dimerization of cytoplasmic domain of AbetaPP. The potential of neurotrophic factors and cytokines in AD therapy is also indicated.
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PMID:Characterization of V642I-AbetaPP-induced cytotoxicity in primary neurons. 1519 38


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