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

---

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 antitumor activity of the sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide, an active ingredient of medicinal plants, is believed to be due to the inhibition of DNA binding of transcription factors NF-kappaB and STAT-3, reduction in MAP kinase activity and the generation of reactive oxygen. In this report, we show that parthenolide activates c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which is independent of inhibition of NF-kappaB DNA binding and generation of reactive oxygen species. Parthenolide reversed resistance of breast cancer cells to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. Cancer cells treated with a combination of TRAIL and parthenolide underwent massive typical apoptosis and atypical apoptosis involving the loss of plasma membrane integrity. JNK activity is necessary for the parthenolide-induced sensitization to TRAIL because a dominant-negative JNK or the JNK inhibitor SP600125 reduced TRAIL plus parthenolide-induced apoptosis. Parthenolide induced phosphorylation of Bid and increased TRAIL-dependent cleavage of Bid without affecting caspase 8 activities. Cytochrome c but not Smac/DIABLO was released from the mitochondria in cells treated with parthenolide alone. Parthenolide through JNK increased the TRAIL-mediated degradation of the antiapoptotic protein X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP). Enhanced XIAP cleavage correlated with increased and prolonged caspase 3 activity and PARP cleavage, suggesting that the sensitization to TRAIL involves 'feed forward' activation of caspase 3. These results identify a new antitumor activity of parthenolide, which can be exploited to reverse resistance of cancer cells to TRAIL, particularly those with elevated XIAP levels.
...
PMID:Antitumor agent parthenolide reverses resistance of breast cancer cells to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand through sustained activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase. 1528 1

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.
...
PMID:p38 and JNK have distinct regulatory functions on the development of apoptosis during simulated ischaemia and reperfusion in neonatal cardiomyocytes. 1530 13

Protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta) is an important regulator of apoptosis in epidermal keratinocytes. However, little information is available regarding the downstream kinases that mediate PKCdelta-dependent keratinocyte death. This study implicates p38delta mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) as a downstream carrier of the PKCdelta-dependent death signal. We show that coexpression of PKCdelta with p38delta produces profound apoptosis-like morphological changes. These morphological changes are associated with increased sub-G(1) cell population, cytochrome c release, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, caspase activation, and PARP cleavage. This death response is specific for the combination of PKCdelta and p38delta and is not produced by replacing PKCdelta with PKCalpha or p38delta with p38alpha. A constitutively active form of MEK6, an upstream activator of p38delta, can also produce cell death when coupled with p38delta. In addition, concurrent p38delta activation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) inactivation are required for apoptosis. Regarding this inverse regulation, we describe a p38delta-ERK1/2 complex that may coordinate these changes in activity. We further show that this p38delta-ERK1/2 complex relocates into the nucleus in response to PKCdelta expression. This regulation appears to be physiological, since H(2)O(2), a known inducer of keratinocyte apoptosis, promotes identical PKCdelta and p38delta-ERK1/2 activity changes, leading to similar morphological changes.
...
PMID:Protein kinase Cdelta regulates keratinocyte death and survival by regulating activity and subcellular localization of a p38delta-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 complex. 1534 77

Echinocystic acid (EA), a natural triterpone enriched in various herbs, has been showed to have cytotoxic activity in some cancer cells, and is used for medicinal purpose in many Asian countries. In the present study, we found that EA could induce apoptosis in human HepG2 cells, as characterized by DNA fragmentation, activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9, and PARP cleavage. The efficacious induction of apoptosis was observed at 45 microM for 24 h. Molecular data showed that EA induced the truncation of Bid protein and reduction of Bcl-2 protein. EA also caused the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)) and cytochrome c release from mitochondria to cytosol. Moreover, EA could activate c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 kinase, and JNK-specific inhibitor SP600125 and p38 kinase-specific inhibitor SB200235 could block serial molecular events of EA-induced apoptosis such as Bid truncation, Bcl-2 reduction, cytochrome c release, caspase activation, and DNA fragmentation in HepG2 cells. These findings indicate that JNK- and p38 kinase-mediated mitochondrial pathways might be involved in EA-induced apoptosis and enhance our understanding of the anticancer function of EA in herbal medicine.
...
PMID:Molecular mechanisms of echinocystic acid-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. 1535 41

Oridonin, an active component isolated from Rabdosia rubescences, has been reported to exhibit antitumor effects, but little is known about its molecular mechanisms of action. In this study, the growth-inhibitory activity of oridonin for L929 cells is in time- and dose-dependent manner. After treatment with various concentrations of oridonin for 12 h, the majority of L929 cells underwent apoptosis as measured by an LDH activity-based assay. Although apoptotic bodies were observed in oridonin-treated L929 cells, DNA fragmentation as a hallmark of apoptosis was not found. The pan-caspase inhibitor, z-VAD, and caspase-3 inhibitor, z-DEVD, sensitized L929 cells to oridonin, however, a PARP inhibitor (DPQ) effectively blocked oridonin-induced cell death. After 12 h treatment, PARP proenzyme was significantly cleaved. This result indicated that oridonin-induced L929 cell death required PARP degradation in a caspase-independent manner. In addition, an MEK/ERK inhibitor (PD98059) markedly blocked oridonin-induced cell death, whereas a p38 inhibitor (SB203580) and JNK inhibitor (SP600125) weakly protected the cells against death. Treatment with 41.2 microM oridonin for 12 h induced significant and persistent ERK activation and p38 inactivation in L929 cells without evident changes in the protein levels. The responsiveness of ERK and p38 to oridonin suggests the involvement of these kinases in this apoptotic process. Moreover, oridonin increased the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression, whereas it had no effect on the expression of Bcl-xL. These results indicate that regulation of the Bcl-2 and MAPK families maybe the effector mechanisms of oridonin-induced L929 cell death, independent of the caspase pathway.
...
PMID:Oridonin induces a caspase-independent but mitochondria- and MAPK-dependent cell death in the murine fibrosarcoma cell line L929. 1546 89

LIGHT is a member of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, and previous studies have indicated that in the presence of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), LIGHT through LTbetaR signaling can induce cell death with features unlike classic apoptosis. In present study, we investigated the mechanism of LIGHT/IFN-gamma-induced cell death in HT-29 cells, where the cell death was profoundly induced when sub-toxic concentrations of LIGHT and IFN-gamma were co-treated. LIGHT/IFN-gamma-induced cell death was accompanied by DNA fragmentation and slight LDH release. This effect was not affected by caspase, JNK nor cathepsin B inhibitors, but was partially prevented by p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, and abolished by aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA), which is an inhibitor of endonuclease and STATs signaling of IFN-gamma. Immunobloting reveals that LIGHT/IFN-gamma could induce p38 MAPK activity, Bak and Fas expression, but down-regulate Mcl-1. Besides, LIGHT/IFN-gamma could not activate caspase-3 and -9, but decreased mitochondrial membrane potential. Although LIGHT could not affect IFN-gamma-induced STAT1 phosphorylation and transactivation activity, which was required for the sensitization of cell death, survival NF-kappaB signaling of LIGHT was inhibited by IFN-gamma. These data suggest that co-presence of LIGHT and IFN-gamma can induce an integrated interaction in signaling pathways, which lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and mix-type cell death, not involving caspase activation.
...
PMID:Mechanism of LIGHT/interferon-gamma-induced cell death in HT-29 cells. 1548 69

The induction of vascular endothelial cell apoptosis and inhibition of tumor-associated angiogenesis by selenium may contribute to its cancer chemopreventive effects. Here we examined the stress-activated/mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38 MAPK, ERK1/2) and protein kinase B/AKT as potential signaling mediators for apoptosis induction by a methylselenol precursor methylseleninic acid (MSeA) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Time course experiments showed that p38 MAPK hyperphosphorylation and ERK1/2 dephosphorylation occurred before the cleavage of procaspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), whereas AKT dephosphorylation occurred after caspase activation. The p38 MAPK inhibitor SB202190 attenuated the MSeA-induced morphological changes and decreased DNA fragmentation and the cleavage of procaspase-3 and PARP in concordant proportions. The general caspase inhibitor zVADfmk completely blocked the MSeA-induced PARP cleavage and DNA fragmentation, whereas zDEVDfmk, an inhibitor for caspase-3-like activities, was nearly as effective for inhibiting apoptosis. In comparison, apoptosis induced by selenite in HUVECs was observed in the complete absence of an activation of the major caspases. Taken together, the data support p38 MAPK as a key upstream mediator for the methylselenol-specific induction of vascular endothelial caspase-dependent apoptosis, which is principally executed by caspase-3-like activities.
...
PMID:Methyl selenium-induced vascular endothelial apoptosis is executed by caspases and principally mediated by p38 MAPK pathway. 1548 11

The Notch signaling pathway plays an important role in the regulation of self-renewal and differentiation of hematopoietic progenitors. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha induces apoptosis through activation of caspase pathway. A monoblastic leukemia cell line, U937, undergoes apoptosis following stimulation with TNF-alpha. We found that Notch activation induced by a recombinant Notch ligand, Delta-1, reduced the TNF-alpha-induced growth suppression and apoptosis in U937 cells. As the molecular mechanism involved, we showed Delta-1 stimulation partially suppressed the sequential activation of caspase-8, caspase-3, and, PARP induced by TNF-alpha. The TNF-alpha-induced activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p38, and NF-kappaB was not affected by Delta-1 stimulation. The cells needed to be exposed to Delta-1 prior to TNF-alpha stimulation to reduce the suppressive effect of TNF-alpha. Therefore, we thought that Delta-1 stimulation might reduce the expression of TNF-receptor (R) 1 and proteins to modulate the activation of caspases such as FLIP and XIAP. However, Delta-1 stimulation did not affect their expression. The precise mechanism by which Notch signaling suppresses caspase activation has yet to be determined. This is the first report to show the relationship between Notch activation and TNF-R1 signaling. The findings suggest possible mechanisms by which Notch activation supports cell survival.
...
PMID:The Notch ligand, Delta-1, reduces TNF-alpha-induced growth suppression and apoptosis by decreasing activation of caspases in U937 cells. 1549 57

Thiols such as N-acetylcysteine (NAC) are increasingly used in clinical trials of platinum chemotherapy as chemoprotectants. NAC can prevent cisdiamminedichloroplatinum (cisplatin)-induced ototoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and gastrointestinal toxicity; however, the molecular mechanisms of NAC on apoptosis and cisplatin cytotoxicity remain unknown. We investigated cisplatin cytotoxicity and NAC chemoprotection in human tumor cell lines, as assessed by immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry. Cisplatin cytotoxicity was associated with nuclear translocation of apoptosis induction factor, expression of the pro-apoptotic Bax protein, cleavage of caspases 3 and 9, and cleavage of PARP. NAC administration reversed the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects if added concurrent with cisplatin or up to 2 h after cisplatin, but chemoprotection was reduced if NAC administration was delayed more than 2 h and was minimal by 8 h after cisplatin. Expression of tumor suppressor p53 and the cell cycle regulatory protein p21 was stimulated within 5 to 10 min by cisplatin in p53-positive LX-1 small cell lung carcinoma cells, and this effect was blocked by NAC. In p53-negative SKOV3 cells, cisplatin toxicity and NAC chemoprotection remained effective, suggesting that chemoprotection may be mediated through both p53-dependent and -independent pathways. Specific kinase inhibitors demonstrated that cisplatin induced apoptosis through the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, not the extracellular signal-regulated kinase MAPK pathway. These results show that NAC blocks both the death receptor and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathways induced by cisplatin. The time course for NAC chemoprotection after cisplatin matches our previous in vivo results and provides an opportunity to manipulate route and timing to maintain cisplatin antitumor efficacy while protecting against chemotherapy side effects.
...
PMID:The chemoprotective agent N-acetylcysteine blocks cisplatin-induced apoptosis through caspase signaling pathway. 1549 15

We have previously reported that murine peritoneal macrophages exposed to ultraviolet B (UV-B; 100 mJ/cm2) undergo apoptosis, as indicated by alterations in cell morphology, caspase-3 activation, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, DNA fragmentation, sustained activation of p38/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and inactivation of p42/44 MAPKs. It is now reported that macrophages undergoing UV-B-induced apoptosis show enhanced expression of protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta) in a time-dependent manner. Pretreatment of macrophages with PKCdelta-specific inhibitor rottlerin prior to the UV-B irradiation inhibits activation of caspase-3, PARP cleavage, DNA fragmentation and release of intracellular Ca2+. Inhibition of PKCdelta also blocks the sustained activation of p38 and JNK MAPKs as well as inactivation of p42/44 MAPKs. PKCalpha and PKCbeta1 expression also increases during UV-B-induced apoptosis in macrophages. Inhibition of these two isoforms with Go6976 slightly suppresses caspase-3 activation, PARP cleavage, DNA fragmentation and release of intracellular Ca2+, but has no effect on the sustained activation of p38/JNK MAPKs or inactivation of p42/44 MAPKs. It is, therefore, suggested that activation of PKCdelta might play an important role in the UV-B-induced apoptosis and that specific activated isoforms of PKC may have distinct functions in cell death.
...
PMID:Role of protein kinase Cdelta in UV-B-induced apoptosis of macrophages in vitro. 1556 68


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>

---