Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.11.25 (MEKK1)
 1,856 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are components of sequential kinase cascades that are activated in response to a variety of extracellular signals. Members of the MAPK family include the extracellular response kinases (ERKs or p42/44(MAPK)), the c-Jun amino-terminal kinases (JNKs), and the p38/Hog 1 protein kinases. MAPKs are phosphorylated and activated by MAPK kinases (MKKs or MEKs), which in turn are phosphorylated and activated by MKK/MEK kinases (Raf and MKKK/MEKKs). We have isolated two cDNAs encoding splice variants of a novel MEK kinase, MEKK4. The MEKK4 mRNA is widely expressed in mouse tissues and encodes for a protein of approximately 180 kDa. The MEKK4 carboxyl-terminal catalytic domain is approximately 55% homologous to the catalytic domains of MEKKs 1, 2, and 3. The amino-terminal region of MEKK4 has little sequence homology to the previously cloned MEKK proteins. MEKK4 specifically activates the JNK pathway but not ERKs or p38, distinguishing it from MEKKs 1, 2 and 3, which are capable of activating the ERK pathway. MEKK4 is localized in a perinuclear, vesicular compartment similar to the Golgi. MEKK4 binds to Cdc42 and Rac; kinase-inactive mutants of MEKK4 block Cdc42/Rac stimulation of the JNK pathway. MEKK4 has a putative pleckstrin homology domain and a proline-rich motif, suggesting specific regulatory functions different from those of the previously characterized MEKKs.
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PMID:Cloning of a novel mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase, MEKK4, that selectively regulates the c-Jun amino terminal kinase pathway. 907 50

MEK (mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase) kinases (MEKKs) regulate c-Jun N-terminal kinase and extracellular response kinase pathways. The 14-3-3zeta and 14-3-3epsilon isoforms were isolated in a two-hybrid screen for proteins interacting with the N-terminal regulatory domain of MEKK3. 14-3-3 proteins bound both the N-terminal regulatory and C-terminal kinase domains of MEKK3. The binding affinity of 14-3-3 for the MEKK3 N terminus was 90 nM, demonstrating a high affinity interaction. 14-3-3 proteins also interacted with MEKK1 and MEKK2, but not MEKK4. Endogenous 14-3-3 protein and MEKK1 and MEKK2 were similarly distributed in the cell, consistent with their in vitro interactions. MEKK1 and 14-3-3 proteins colocalized using two-color digital confocal immunofluorescence. Binding of 14-3-3 proteins mapped to the N-terminal 393 residues of 196-kDa MEKK1. Unlike MEKK2 and MEKK3, the C-terminal kinase domain of MEKK1 demonstrated little or no ability to interact with 14-3-3 proteins. MEKK1, but not MEKK2, -3 or -4, is a caspase-3 substrate that when cleaved releases the kinase domain from the N-terminal regulatory domain. Functionally, caspase-3 cleavage of MEKK1 releases the kinase domain from the N-terminal 14-3-3-binding region, demonstrating that caspases can selectively alter protein kinase interactions with regulatory proteins. With regard to MEKK1, -2 and -3, 14-3-3 proteins do not appear to directly influence activity, but rather function as "scaffolds" for protein-protein interactions.
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PMID:14-3-3 proteins interact with specific MEK kinases. 945 71

The stress-responsive p38 and JNK MAPK pathways regulate cell cycle and apoptosis. A human MAPKKK, MTK1 (= MEKK4), mediates activation of both p38 and JNK in response to environmental stresses. Using a yeast two-hybrid method, three related proteins, GADD45alpha (= GADD45), GADD45, (= MyD118), and GADD45gamma, were identified that bound to an N-terminal domain of MTK1. These proteins activated MTK1 kinase activity, both in vivo and in vitro. The GADD45-like genes are induced by environmental stresses, including MMS, UV, and gamma irradiation. Expression of the GADD45-like genes induces p38/JNK activation and apoptosis, which can be partially suppressed by coexpression of a dominant inhibitory MTK1 mutant protein. We propose that the GADD45-like proteins mediate activation of the p38/JNK pathway, via MTK1/ MEKK4, in response to environmental stresses.
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PMID:A family of stress-inducible GADD45-like proteins mediate activation of the stress-responsive MTK1/MEKK4 MAPKKK. 982 4

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades represent one of the important signalling mechanisms in response to environmental stimuli. We report the identification of a human MAPK kinase kinase, MAPKKK4, via sequence similarity with other MAPKKKs. When truncated MAPKKK4 (DeltaMAPKKK4) was overexpressed in HEK293 cells, it was constitutively active and induced the activation of endogenous p38alpha, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1/2 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)2 in vivo. Kinase-inactive DeltaMAPKKK4 partly inhibited the activation of p38alpha, JNK1/2 and ERK2 induced by stress, tumour necrosis factor alpha or epidermal growth factor, suggesting that MAPKKK4 might be physiologically involved in all three MAPK cascades. Co-expressed MAP kinase kinase (MKK)-1, MKK-4, MKK-3 and MKK-6 were activated in vivo by DeltaMAPKKK4. All of the above MKKs purified from Escherichia coli were phosphorylated and activated by DeltaMAPKKK4 immunoprecipitates in vitro. When expressed by lower plasmid doses, DeltaMAPKKK4 preferentially activated MKK-3 and p38alpha in vivo. Overexpression of DeltaMAPKKK4 did not activate the NF-kappaB pathway. Immunoprecipitation of endogenous MAPKKK4 by specific antibodies showed that MAPKKK4 was activated after the treatment of K562 cells with various stress conditions. As a broadly distributed kinase, MAPKKK4 might serve as a stress responder. MAPKKK4 is 91% identical with the recently described murine MEKK-4beta and might be its human homologue. It is also identical with the recently cloned human MAP three kinase 1 except for the lack of an internal sequence homologous to the murine MEKK-4alpha isoform. Differences in the reported functional activities of the three kinases are discussed.
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PMID:Human mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase mediates the stress-induced activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades. 984 71

Recent evidence indicates that nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), a transcription factor critically important for immune and inflammatory responses, is activated by a protein kinase cascade. The essential features of this cascade are that a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) activates an IkappaB kinase (IKK) that site-specifically phosphorylates IkappaB. The IkappaB protein, which ordinarily sequesters NF-kappaB in the cytoplasm, is subsequently degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, thereby allowing the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB. Thus far, only two MAP3Ks, NIK and MEKK1, have been identified that can activate this pathway. We now show that MEKK2 and MEKK3 can in vivo activate IKK-alpha and IKK-beta, induce site-specific IkappaBalpha phosphorylation, and, relatively modestly, activate an NF-kappaB reporter gene. In addition, dominant negative versions of either IKK-alpha or IKK-beta abolish NF-kappaB activation induced by MEKK2 or MEKK3, thereby providing evidence that these IKKs mediate the NF-kappaB-inducing activities of these MEKKs. In contrast, other MAP3Ks, including MEKK4, ASK1, and MLK3, fail to show evidence of activation of the NF-kappaB pathway. We conclude that a distinct subset of MAP3Ks can activate NF-kappaB.
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PMID:Mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase kinases 2 and 3 activate nuclear factor-kappaB through IkappaB kinase-alpha and IkappaB kinase-beta. 1008 62

Arsenate and arsenite activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), however, the mechanism by which this occurs is not known. By expressing inhibitory mutant small GTP-binding proteins, p21-activated kinase (PAK) and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase kinases (MEKKs), we have identified specific proteins that are involved in arsenate- and arsenite-mediated activation of JNK. We observe a distinct difference between arsenate and arsenite signaling, which demonstrates that arsenate and arsenite are capable of activating unique proteins. Both arsenate and arsenite activation of JNK requires Rac and Rho. Neither arsenate nor arsenite signaling was inhibited by a dominant-negative mutant of Cdc42 or Ras. Arsenite stimulation of JNK requires PAK, whereas arsenate-mediated activation of JNK was unaffected by inhibitory mutant PAK. Of the four MEKKs tested, only MEKK3 and MEKK4 are involved in arsenate-mediated activation of JNK. In contrast, arsenite-mediated JNK activation requires MEKK2, MEKK3 and MEKK4. These results better define the mechanisms by which arsenate and arsenite activate JNK and demonstrate differences in the regulation of signal transduction pathways by these inorganic arsenic species.
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PMID:Signal transduction pathways regulated by arsenate and arsenite. 1061 20

Differentiation of P19 embryonal carcinoma cells in response to the morphogen retinoic acid is regulated by Galpha(12/13) and is associated with activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase. The role of MEKK1 and MEKK4 upstream of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase was investigated in P19 cells. P19 clones stably expressing constitutively active and dominant negative mutants of MEKK1 and MEKK4 were created and characterized. Expression of the constitutively active form of either MEKK1 or MEKK4 mimicked the action of retinoic acid, inducing these embryonal carcinoma cells to primitive endoderm. Expression of the dominant negative form of MEKK1 had no influence on the ability of retinoic acid to induce either JNK activation or primitive endoderm formation in P19 stem cells. Expression of the dominant negative form of MEKK4, in contrast, effectively blocks both morphogen-induced activation of JNK and cellular differentiation. These data identify MEKK4 as upstream of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in the pathway mediating differentiation of P19 stem cells to primitive endoderm.
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PMID:MEKK4 mediates differentiation in response to retinoic acid via activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in rat embryonal carcinoma P19 cells. 1080 16

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are the major signaling systems transducing extracellular signals into intracellular responses, which mainly include the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, the c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) pathway, and the p38 pathway. From dendritic cell cDNA library, we isolated a full-length cDNA encoding a potentially novel 898-residue kinase, which was designated DPK. The protein contained a potential kinase domain at the N-terminal exhibiting homology with MEKK1-, MEKK2-, MEKK3-, MEKK4-, MEKK5-, Tpl-2-, and p21-activated kinases (PAKs), but no GTPase-binding domain which is characteristic of PAKs. Northern blotting analysis showed that DPK was ubiquitously expressed in normal tissues, with abundant expression in kidney, skeletal muscle, heart, and liver. When overexpressed in transfected NIH3T3 cells, it could activate both the ERK1/ERK2 pathway and the SAPK pathway in a dose-dependent manner, but not affect the p38 pathway. These findings suggested that DPK might be a novel candidate MAPKKK.
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PMID:Cloning of DPK, a novel dendritic cell-derived protein kinase activating the ERK1/ERK2 and JNK/SAPK pathways. 1092 69

In cultured mammalian cells, the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is activated in response to a variety of environmental stresses. How ever, there is little evidence from in vivo studies to demonstrate a role for this pathway in the stress response. We identified a Drosophila MAPK kinase kinase (MAPKKK), D-MEKK1, which can activate p38 MAPK. D-MEKK1 is structurally similar to the mammalian MEKK4/MTK1 MAPKKK. D-MEKK1 kinase activity was activated in animals under conditions of high osmolarity. Drosophila mutants lacking D-MEKK1 were hypersensitive to environmental stresses, including elevated temperature and increased osmolarity. In these D-MEKK1 mutants, activation of Drosophila p38 MAPK in response to stress was poor compared with activation in wild-type animals. These results suggest that D-MEKK1 regulation of the p38 MAPK pathway is critical for the response to environmental stresses in Drosophila.
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PMID:A Drosophila MAPKKK, D-MEKK1, mediates stress responses through activation of p38 MAPK. 1157 74

Galpha13 mediates the ability of the morphogen retinoic acid to promote primitive endoderm formation from mouse P19 embryonal carcinoma stem cells, a process that includes the obligate activation of Jun N-terminal kinase. Expression of the constitutively activated (Q226L) GTPase-deficient form of Galpha13 mimics retinoic acid and was used to investigate the signaling upstream of primitive endoderm formation. Jun N-terminal kinase 1 activity, MEK1,2, MKK4, and MEKK1 were constitutively activated in clones stably transfected to express Q226L Galpha13. Dominant negative forms of MEKK1 and MEKK4 were expressed stably in the clones harboring Q226L Galpha13. Expression of dominant negative versions of either MEKK1 or MEKK4 effectively blocks both the activation of Jun N-terminal kinase as well as the formation of primitive endoderm. Depletion of MEKK1, -2, or -4 by antisense oligodeoxynucleotides suppressed signaling from Q226L Galpha13 to JNK1 and primitive endoderm formation. We demonstrate that the signal linkage map from Galpha13 activation to primitive endoderm formation in these stem cells requires activation at three levels of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade: MEKK1, -2, or -4 for MAP kinase kinase kinase; MKK4 and/or MEK1 for MAP kinase kinase; and JNK1 for MAP kinase.
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PMID:Expression of Galpha 13 (Q226L) induces P19 stem cells to primitive endoderm via MEKK1, 2, or 4. 1170 Mar 6


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