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 expression of GnRH and its receptor as a part of an autocrine regulatory system of cell proliferation has been demonstrated in a number of human malignant tumors, including cancers of the breast, ovary and endometrium. Dose-dependent antiproliferative effects of GnRH agonists in cell lines derived from these cancers have been observed by various investigators. GnRH antagonists also have marked antiproliferative activity in most breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer cell lines tested, indicating that the dichotomy of GnRH agonists and antagonists might not apply to the GnRH system in cancer cells. The classical GnRH receptor signal-transduction mechanisms, known to operate in the pituitary, are not involved in the mediation of antiproliferative effects of GnRH analogs in cancer cells. Rather, the GnRH receptor interacts with the mitogenic signal transduction of growth factor receptors and related oncogene products associated with tyrosine kinase activity, via activation of a phosphotyrosine phosphatase, resulting in downregulation of cancer cell proliferation. In addition, GnRH activates nuclear factor kappaB and protects the cancer cells from apoptosis. Furthermore, GnRH induces activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase/activator protein-1 (AP-1) pathway independent of the known AP-1 activators, protein kinase or mitogen activated protein kinase.
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PMID:Biology of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone system in gynecological cancers. 1175 Oct 60

GnRH acts on pituitary gonadotropes to stimulate the synthesis and release of LH and FSH. However, the signaling pathways downstream of the GnRH receptor that mediate these effects are not fully understood. In this paper, we demonstrate that GnRH activates ERK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38MAPK in the LbetaT2 gonadotrope cell line. Phosphorylation of both ERK and p38MAPK are stimulated rapidly, 30- to 50-fold in 5 min, but activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase has slower kinetics, reaching only 10-fold after 30 min. Activation of ERK by GnRH is blocked by inhibition of MAPK kinase (MEK) and partially blocked by inhibition of PKC and calcium, but not PI3K or p38MAPK signaling. We demonstrate that phosphorylated ERK accumulates in the nucleus in a PKC-dependent manner. We also show that GnRH induces c-fos and LHbeta subunit protein expression in LbetaT2 cells via MEK. Experiments with EGTA or calcium channel antagonists indicated that calcium influx is important for the induction of both genes by GnRH. In conclusion, these results show that GnRH activates all three MAPK subfamilies in LbetaT2 cells and induces c-fos and LHbeta protein expression through calcium and MEK-dependent mechanisms. These results also demonstrate that the nuclear translocation of ERK by GnRH requires PKC signaling.
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PMID:GnRH activates ERK1/2 leading to the induction of c-fos and LHbeta protein expression in LbetaT2 cells. 1187 99

Sustained stimulation of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) typically causes receptor desensitisation, which is mediated by phosphorylation, often within the C-terminal tail of the receptor. The consequent binding of beta-arrestin not only prevents the receptor from activating its G protein (causing desensitisation), but can also target it for internalisation via clathrin-coated vesicles and can mediate signalling to proteins regulating endocytosis and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades. GnRH acts via phospholipase C (PLC)-coupled GPCRs on pituitary gonadotrophs to stimulate a Ca(2+)-mediated increase in gonadotrophin secretion. The type I GnRH receptors (GnRH-Rs), found only in mammals, are unique in that they lack C-terminal tails and apparently do not undergo agonist-induced phosphorylation or bind beta-arrestin; they are therefore resistant to receptor desensitisation and internalise slowly. In contrast, the type II GnRH-Rs, found in numerous vertebrates, possess such tails and show rapid desensitisation and internalisation, with concomitant receptor phosphorylation (within the C-terminal tails) or binding of beta-arrestin, or both. The association with beta-arrestin may also be important for regulation of dynamin, a GTPase that controls separation of endosomes from the plasma membrane. Using recombinant adenovirus to express GnRH-Rs in Hela cells conditionally expressing a dominant negative mutant of dynamin (K44A), we have found that blockade of dynamin-dependent endocytosis inhibits internalisation of type II (xenopus) GnRH-Rs but not type I (human) GnRH-Rs. In these cells, blockade of dynamin-dependent internalisation also inhibited GnRH-R-mediated MAPK activation, but this effect was not receptor specific and therefore not dependent upon dynamin-regulated GnRH-R internalisation. Although type I GnRH-Rs do not desensitise, sustained activation of GnRH-Rs causes desensitisation of gonadotrophin secretion, and we have found that GnRH can cause down-regulation of inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate receptors and desensitisation of Ca(2+) mobilisation in pituitary cells. The atypical resistance of the GnRH-R to desensitisation may underlie its atypical efficiency at provoking this downstream adaptive response. GnRH-Rs are also expressed in several extrapituitary sites, and these may mediate direct inhibition of proliferation of hormone-dependent cancer cells. Infection with type I GnRH-R-expressing adenovirus facilitated expression of high-affinity, PLC-coupled GnRH-R in mammary and prostate cancer cells, and these mediated pronounced antiproliferative effects of receptor agonists. No such effect was seen in cells transfected with a type II GnRH-R, implying that it is mediated most efficiently by a non-desensitising receptor. Thus it appears that the mammalian GnRH-Rs have undergone a period of rapidly accelerated molecular evolution that is of functional relevance to GnRH-Rs in pituitary and extrapituitary sites.
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PMID:Signalling, cycling and desensitisation of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone receptors. 1192 79

GnRH regulates gonadotrope cells through GnRH receptor activation of the PKC-, MAPK-, and calcium-activated signaling cascades. Due to the paucity of homologous model systems expressing FSHbeta, little is known about the specific mechanisms involved in transcriptional regulation of this gene by GnRH. Previous studies from our laboratory demonstrated that the gonadotrope-derived LbetaT2 cell line expresses FSHbeta mRNA. In the present study we characterized the mechanisms involved in GnRH regulation of the FSHbeta promoter using this cell model. Using transfection assays, we show that GnRH regulation of the ovine FSHbeta promoter involves at least two elements, present between -4152/-2878 and -2550/-1089 bp, in association with one or several elements within the proximal region of the promoter. Surprisingly, the two activating protein-1 sites previously shown to be involved in the FSHbeta response to GnRH in heterologous cells do not play a role in GnRH responsiveness in the gonadotrope cell model. Here we demonstrate that calcium influx itself is not sufficient to confer the response, but it is necessary for both 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and GnRH induction of the FSHbeta gene. Moreover, we show that GnRH regulation of FSHbeta gene expression is mediated by PKC and establish the presence of multiple PKC isozymes in LbetaT2 cells. Interestingly, GnRH and TPA induce activity of the FSHbeta promoter through different, although possibly overlapping, pools of PKC isoforms. This is further supported by the use of a MAPK inhibitor, which abolishes the induction of FSHbeta by GnRH, but not by TPA. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that calcium, PKC, and MAPK signaling systems are all involved in the induction of FSHbeta gene expression by GnRH in the LbetaT2 mouse gonadotrope cell model.
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PMID:Transcriptional activation of the ovine follicle-stimulating hormone-beta gene by gonadotropin-releasing hormone involves multiple signal transduction pathways. 1195 46

The hypothalamic decapeptide, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), utilizes multiple signaling pathways to activate extracellularly regulated mitogen-activated protein kinases (ERK1/2) in normal and immortalized pituitary gonadotrophs and transfected cells expressing the GnRH receptor. In immortalized hypothalamic GnRH neurons (GT1-7 cells), which also express GnRH receptors, GnRH, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) caused marked phosphorylation of ERK1/2. This action of GnRH and PMA, but not that of EGF, was primarily dependent on activation of protein kinase C (PKC), and the ERK1/2 responses to all three agents were abolished by the selective EGF receptor kinase inhibitor, AG1478. Consistent with this, both GnRH and EGF increased tyrosine phosphorylation of the EGF receptor. GnRH and PMA, but not EGF, caused rapid phosphorylation of the proline-rich tyrosine kinase, Pyk2, at Tyr(402). This was reduced by Ca(2+) chelation and inhibition of PKC, but not by AG1478. GnRH stimulation caused translocation of PKC alpha and -epsilon to the cell membrane and enhanced the association of Src with PKC alpha and PKC epsilon, Pyk2, and the EGF receptor. The Src inhibitor, PP2, the C-terminal Src kinase (Csk), and dominant-negative Pyk2 attenuated ERK1/2 activation by GnRH and PMA but not by EGF. These findings indicate that Src and Pyk2 act upstream of the EGF receptor to mediate its transactivation, which is essential for GnRH-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation in hypothalamic GnRH neurons.
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PMID:Dependence of gonadotropin-releasing hormone-induced neuronal MAPK signaling on epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation. 1244 5

Reproductive function is dependent on the interaction between GnRH and its cognate receptor found on gonadotrope cells of the anterior pituitary gland. GnRH activation of the GnRH receptor (GnRHR) is a potent stimulus for increased expression of multiple genes including the gene encoding the GnRHR itself. Thus, homologous regulation of the GnRHR is an important mechanism underlying gonadotrope sensitivity to GnRH. Previously, we have found that GnRH induction of GnRHR gene expression in alpha T3-1 cells is partially mediated by protein kinase C activation of a canonical activator protein-1 (AP-1) element. In contrast, protein kinase A and a cAMP response element-like element have been implicated in mediating the GnRH response of the GnRHR gene using a heterologous cell model (GGH(3)). Herein we find that selective removal of the canonical AP-1 site leads to a loss of GnRH regulation of the GnRHR promoter in transgenic mice. Thus, an intact AP-1 element is necessary for GnRH responsiveness of the GnRHR gene both in vitro and in vivo. Based on in vitro analyses, GnRH appeared to enhance the interaction of JunD, FosB, and c-Fos at the GnRHR AP-1 element. Although enhanced binding of cFos reflected an increase in gene expression, GnRH appeared to regulate both FosB and JunD at a posttranslational level. Neither overexpression of a constitutively active Raf-kinase nor pharmacological blockade of GnRH-induced ERK activation eliminated the GnRH response of the GnRHR promoter. GnRH responsiveness was, however, lost in alpha T3-1 cells that stably express a dominant-negative c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) kinase, suggesting a critical role for JNK in mediating GnRH regulation of the GnRHR gene. Consistent with this possibility, we find that the ability of forskolin and membrane-permeable forms of cAMP to inhibit the GnRH response of the GnRHR promoter is associated with a loss of both JNK activation and GnRH-mediated recruitment of the primary AP-1-binding components.
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PMID:c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation of activator protein-1 underlies homologous regulation of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor gene in alpha T3-1 cells. 1258 60

The duration as well as the magnitude of mitogen-activated protein kinase activation has been proposed to regulate gene expression and other specific intracellular responses in individual cell types. Activation of ERK1/2 by the hypothalamic neuropeptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is relatively sustained in alpha T3-1 pituitary gonadotropes and HEK293 cells but is transient in immortalized GT1-7 neurons. Each of these cell types expresses the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and responds to EGF stimulation with significant but transient ERK1/2 phosphorylation. However, GnRH-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation caused by EGFR transactivation was confined to GT1-7 cells and was attenuated by EGFR kinase inhibition. Neither EGF nor GnRH receptor activation caused translocation of phospho-ERK1/2 into the nucleus in GT1-7 cells. In contrast, agonist stimulation of GnRH receptors expressed in HEK293 cells caused sustained phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of ERK1/2 by a protein kinase C-dependent but EGFR-independent pathway. GnRH-induced activation of ERK1/2 was attenuated by the selective Src kinase inhibitor PP2 and the negative regulatory C-terminal Src kinase in GT1-7 cells but not in HEK293 cells. In GT1-7 cells, GnRH stimulated phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of the ERK1/2-dependent protein, p90RSK-1 (RSK-1). These results indicate that the duration of ERK1/2 activation depends on the signaling pathways utilized by GnRH in specific target cells. Whereas activation of the Gq/protein kinase C pathway in HEK293 cells causes sustained phosphorylation and translocation of ERK1/2 to the nucleus, transactivation of the EGFR by GnRH in GT1-7 cells elicits transient ERK1/2 signals without nuclear accumulation. These findings suggest that transactivation of the tightly regulated EGFR can account for the transient ERK1/2 responses that are elicited by stimulation of certain G protein-coupled receptors.
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PMID:Roles of Src and epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation in transient and sustained ERK1/2 responses to gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor activation. 1264 80

Sustained exposure of gonadotropes to GnRH causes a pronounced desensitization of gonadotropin release, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. It is known that desensitization is associated with decreased GnRH receptor and Gq/11 levels in alphaT3-1 cells, but it is not known whether downstream signaling is impaired. We have shown previously that chronic stimulation of signaling via expression of an active form of Galphaq causes GnRH resistance in LbetaT2 cells. In this study we investigated whether chronic GnRH treatment could down-regulate protein kinase C (PKC), cAMP, or Ca2+-dependent signaling in LbetaT2 cells. We found that chronic GnRH treatment desensitizes cells to acute GnRH stimulation not only by reducing GnRH receptor and Gq/11 expression but also by down-regulating PKC, cAMP, and calcium-dependent signaling. Desensitization was observed for activation of ERK and p38 MAPK and induction of c-fos and LHbeta protein expression. Activation of individual signaling pathways was able to partially mimic the desensitizing effect of GnRH on ERK, p38 MAPK, c-fos, and LHbeta but not on Gq/11. Chronic stimulation with phorbol esters reduced GnRH receptor expression to the same extent as chronic GnRH. Sustained GnRH also desensitized PKC signaling by down-regulating the delta, epsilon, and theta isoforms of PKC. We further show that chronic GnRH treatment causes heterologous desensitization of other Gq-coupled receptors.
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PMID:Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-desensitized LbetaT2 gonadotrope cells are refractory to acute protein kinase C, cyclic AMP, and calcium-dependent signaling. 1296 37

Rapid engagement of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascade via the Gq/11-coupled GnRH receptor (GnRHR) is mediated by transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Here we show that the cross-talk between GnRHR and EGFR in gonadotropic cells is accomplished via gelatinases A and B (matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9), identifying gelatinases as the first distinct members of the MMP family mediating EGFR transactivation by G protein-coupled receptors. Using a specific MMP2 and MMP9 inhibitor, Ro28-2653, GnRH-dependent EGFR transactivation was abrogated. Proving the specificity of the effect, transient transfection of alphaT3-1 cells with ribozymes directed against MMP2 or MMP9 specifically blocked EGFR tyrosine phosphorylation in response to GnRH stimulation. GnRH challenge of alphaT3-1 cells furthered the release of active MMP2 and MMP9 and increased their gelatinolytic activities within 5 min. Rapid release of activated MMP2 or MMP9 was inhibited by ribozyme-targeted down-regulation of MT1-MMP or MMP2, respectively. We found that GnRH-induced Src, Ras, and ERK activation were also gelatinase-dependent. Thus, gelatinase-induced EGFR transactivation was required to engage the extracellular-signal regulated kinase cascade. Activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38 MAPK by GnRH was unaffected by EGFR or gelatinase inhibition that, however, suppressed GnRH induction of c-Jun and c-Fos. Our findings suggest a novel role for gelatinases in the endocrine regulation of pituitary gonadotropes.
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PMID:Matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 mediate epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation by gonadotropin-releasing hormone. 1296 32

Activation of classical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) like the mammalian gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) typically stimulates heterotrimeric G protein molecules that subsequently activate downstream effectors. Receptor activation of heterotrimeric G protein pathways primarily controls intermediary cell metabolism by elevation or diminution of soluble cytoplasmic second messenger molecules. We have demonstrated here that stimulation of the GnRHR also results in a dramatic change in both cell adhesion and superstructural morphology. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor activation rapidly increases the capacity of HEK293 cells expressing the GnRHR to remain matrix-adherent in the face of fluid insults. Coinciding with this profound elevation in matrix adherence, we demonstrated a GnRH-induced alteration in both cell morphology and the de novo generation of polymerized actin structures. GnRH induction of cytoskeletal remodeling was correlated with significant increases in the tyrosine phosphorylation status of a series of cytoskeletal associated proteins, e.g. focal adhesion kinase (FAK), c-Src, and microtubule-associated protein kinase (MAPK or ERK1/2). The activation of the distal downstream effector ERK1/2 was demonstrated to be sensitive to the disrupters of cytoskeletal rearrangement, cytochalasin D and latrunculin B. In addition to the sensitivity of ERKs to cytoskeletal integrity, GnRH-induced FAK and c-Src kinase activation were sensitive to these agents and the fibronectin-integrin antagonistic RGDS peptide. Activation of ERK was dependent on its protein-protein assembly with FAK and c-Src at focal adhesion complexes. Induction of the cell remodeling event leading to this signaling complex assembly occurred primarily via GnRHR activation of the monomeric G protein Rac but not RhoA. These findings demonstrated a clear divergence of GnRHR signaling via the Rac monomeric G protein focal adhesion signaling complex assembly and cytoskeletal remodeling independent of the classical heterotrimeric G protein-controlled phospholipase C-beta pathway.
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PMID:Cytoskeletal reorganization dependence of signaling by the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor. 1455 94


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