Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.31 (AMP-activated protein kinase)
13,065 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The winged helix transcription factor Qin is the avian homolog of the mammalian brain factor 1 (BF-1) and has the potential to act as an oncogenic protein. We used representational difference analysis to identify genes that are differentially expressed in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) transformed by Qin. One of the up-regulated Qin targets identified in this analysis is a serine-threonine kinase termed Qik (Qin-induced kinase). Qik belongs to the AMPK/SNF1 kinase family. It is a ubiquitously expressed protein and is upregulated rapidly after a hormone-regulated form of Qin is activated. In vitro kinase tests demonstrate that Qik is capable of autophosphorylation. Elevated levels of Qik transcripts are also observed in Src-transformed cells, suggesting that Src and Qin share some targets.
...
PMID:The new serine-threonine kinase, Qik, is a target of the Qin oncogene. 1102 14

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a serine-threonine kinase that regulates cellular metabolism and has an essential role in activating glucose transport during hypoxia and ischemia. The mechanisms responsible for AMPK stimulation of glucose transport are uncertain, but may involve interaction with other signaling pathways or direct effects on GLUT vesicular trafficking. One potential downstream mediator of AMPK signaling is the nitric oxide pathway. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which AMPK mediates glucose transport through activation of the nitric oxide (NO)-signaling pathway in isolated heart muscles. Incubation with 1 mM 5-amino-4-imidazole-1-beta-carboxamide ribofuranoside (AICAR) activated AMPK (P < 0.01) and stimulated glucose uptake (P < 0.05) and translocation of the cardiomyocyte glucose transporter GLUT4 to the cell surface (P < 0.05). AICAR treatment increased phosphorylation of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) approximately 1.8-fold (P < 0.05). eNOS, but not neuronal NOS, coimmunoprecipitated with both the alpha(2) and alpha(1) AMPK catalytic subunits in heart muscle. NO donors also increased glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation (P < 0.05). Inhibition of NOS with N(omega)-nitro-l-arginine and N(omega)-methyl-l-arginine reduced AICAR-stimulated glucose uptake by 21 +/- 3% (P < 0.05) and 25 +/- 4% (P < 0.05), respectively. Inhibition of guanylate cyclase with ODQ and LY-83583 reduced AICAR-stimulated glucose uptake by 31 +/- 4% (P < 0.05) and 22 +/- 3% (P < 0.05), respectively, as well as GLUT4 translocation to the cell surface (P < 0.05). Taken together, these results indicate that activation of the NO-guanylate cyclase pathway contributes to, but is not the sole mediator of, AMPK stimulation of glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation in heart muscle.
...
PMID:Role of the nitric oxide pathway in AMPK-mediated glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation in heart muscle. 1526 62

Germline mutations of the LKB1 gene are responsible for the cancer-prone Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS). LKB1 encodes a serine-threonine kinase that acts as a regulator of cell cycle, metabolism and cell polarity. The majority of PJS missense mutations abolish LKB1 enzymatic activity and thereby impair all functions assigned to LKB1. Here, we have investigated the functional consequences of recurrent missense mutations identified in PJS and in sporadic tumors which map in the LKB1 C-terminal non-catalytic region. We report that these C-terminal mutations neither disrupt LKB1 kinase activity nor interfere with LKB1-induced growth arrest. However, these naturally occuring mutations lessened LKB1-mediated activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and impaired downstream signaling. Furthermore, C-terminal mutations compromise LKB1 ability to establish and maintain polarity of both intestinal epithelial cells and migrating astrocytes. Consistent with these findings, mutational analysis reveals that the LKB1 tail exerts an essential function in the control of cell polarity. Overall, our results ascribe a crucial regulatory role to the LKB1 C-terminal region. Our findings further indicate that LKB1 tumor suppressor activity is likely to depend on the regulation of AMPK signaling and cell polarization.
...
PMID:Functional analysis of Peutz-Jeghers mutations reveals that the LKB1 C-terminal region exerts a crucial role in regulating both the AMPK pathway and the cell polarity. 1580 14

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays a key role in modulating cellular metabolic processes. AMPK, a serine-threonine kinase, is a heterotrimeric complex of catalytic alpha-subunits and regulatory beta- and gamma-subunits with multiple isoforms. Mutations in the cardiac gamma(2)-isoform have been associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and pre-excitation syndromes. However, physiological regulation of AMPK complexes containing different subunit isoforms is not well defined and is important for an understanding of the function of this signaling pathway in the intact heart. We evaluated the kinase activity associated with heart AMPK complexes containing specific alpha- and gamma-subunit isoforms of AMPK in an in vivo rat model of regional ischemia. Left coronary artery occlusion activated the immunoprecipitated alpha(1)-isoform (6-fold, P < 0.01) and alpha(2)-isoform (9-fold, P < 0.01) in the ischemic left ventricle compared with sham controls. The degree of alpha-subunit activation depended on the extent of ischemia and paralleled echocardiographic contractile dysfunction. The regulatory gamma(1)- and gamma(2)-isoforms were expressed in the heart. The gamma(1)- and gamma(2)-isoforms coimmunoprecipitated with alpha(1)- and alpha(2)-isoforms in proportion to alpha-subunit content. gamma(1)-Isoform immunocomplexes accounted for 70% of AMPK activity and AMPK phosphorylation (Thr(172)) in hearts. Ischemia similarly increased AMPK activity associated with the gamma(1)- and gamma(2)-isoform complexes threefold (P < 0.01 for each). Thus AMPK catalytic alpha(1)- and alpha(2)-isoforms are activated by regional ischemia in vivo in the heart, irrespective of the regulatory gamma(1)- or gamma(2)-isoforms to which they are complexed. Despite the pathophysiological importance of gamma(2)-isoform mutations, gamma(1)-isoform complexes account for most of the AMPK activity in the ischemic heart.
...
PMID:Activation of AMPK alpha- and gamma-isoform complexes in the intact ischemic rat heart. 1664 75

Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) is an actin regulatory protein that links signaling pathways to remodeling of the cytoskeleton. VASP functions are modulated by protein kinases, which phosphorylate the sites Ser-157, Ser-239, and Thr-278. The kinase responsible for Thr-278 phosphorylation, biological functions of the phosphorylation, and association with disease states have remained enigmatic. Using VASP phosphorylation status-specific antibodies, we identified AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a serine-threonine kinase and fundamental sensor of energy homeostasis, in a screen for kinases that phosphorylate the Thr-278 site of VASP in endothelial cells. Pharmacological AMPK inhibitors and activators and AMPK mutants revealed that the kinase specifically targets residue Thr-278 but not Ser-157 or Ser-239. Quantitative fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis and serum response factor transcriptional reporter assays, which quantify the cellular F-/G-actin equilibrium, indicated that AMPK-mediated VASP phosphorylation impaired actin stress fiber formation and altered cell morphology. In the Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat model for type II diabetes, AMPK activity and Thr-278 phosphorylation were substantially reduced in arterial vessel walls. These findings suggest that VASP is a new AMPK substrate, that VASP Thr-278 phosphorylation translates metabolic signals into actin cytoskeleton rearrangements, and that this signaling system becomes down-regulated in diabetic vessels.
...
PMID:AMP-activated protein kinase impairs endothelial actin cytoskeleton assembly by phosphorylating vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein. 1708 96

Evaluation of: Legro RS, Barnhart HX, Schlaff WD et al.: Ovulatory response to treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome is associated with a polymorphism in the STK11 gene. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 93(3), 792-800 (2008). The current study by Legro et al. is a substudy of the recent multicenter, double-blinded, prospective study Pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Legro et al. randomly assigned 626 infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome to receive 50 mg clomiphene citrate plus placebo (n = 209), 2 g extended-release metformin plus placebo (n = 208), or a combination of metformin and clomiphene (n = 209) for up to six cycles. Of 626 patients in the original study, 312 women participated in the pharmacogenetic substudy; 98 received metformin XR (2 g/day), 102 clomiphene and 112 combined clomiphene-metformin XR treatment. This study was designed "to identify predictive genetic polymorphism and other determinants of ovulatory response" in prospective fashion. Candidate genes tested included estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1), CYP genes (CYP2C9 and CYP2D6) and STK11. STK11, formerly known as LKB1, is a serine-threonine kinase gene expressed in the liver, which phosphorylates and activates AMP-activated protein kinase. It was shown to be a site of metformin action. The C allele of a SNP in the STK11 gene was associated with a significantly decreased chance of ovulation in polycystic ovary syndrome women treated with metformin. In analysis of ovulation per cycle, the adjusted odds ratio for CC versus GG (wild-type normal) was 0.30 (95% CI: 0.14-0.66) and the odds ratio for CG versus GG was 0.30 (95% CI: 0.14-0.66). This elegant study is of great importance because despite treatment, many women with polycystic ovary syndrome fail to ovulate, 24.9% in the clomiphene group, 44.7% in the metformin group and 16.7% in the clomiphene-metformin group.
...
PMID:Is pharmacogenomics our future? Metformin, ovulation and polymorphism of the STK11 gene in polycystic ovary syndrome. 1868 89

Germ line mutations in the LKB1 tumor suppressor gene are associated with the Peutz-Jeghers polyposis and cancer syndrome. Somatic mutations in Lkb1 are observed in sporadic pulmonary, pancreatic and biliary cancers and melanomas. The LKB1 serine-threonine kinase functionally and biochemically links control of cellular structure and energy utilization through activation of the AMPK family of kinases. Lkb1 regulates cell polarity through downstream kinases including AMPKs, MARKs and BRSKs, and nutrient utilization and cellular metabolism through the AMPK-mTOR pathway. LKB1 has been shown to affect normal chromosomal segregation, TGF-beta signaling in the mesenchyme and WNT and p53 activity. Although each of the LKB1-dependent processes and downstream pathways have been individually delineated through work across a range of experimental systems, how they relate to Lkb1's role as a tumor suppressor remains to be fully explored and elucidated. The recent development of mouse cancer models harboring engineered mutations in Lkb1 have offered insights into how LKB1 may be functioning to restrain tumorigenesis and how its role as a master regulator of polarity and metabolism could contribute to its tumor suppressor function.
...
PMID:LKB1; linking cell structure and tumor suppression. 1902 33

The molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of prostate cancer are poorly understood. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a serine-threonine kinase that is activated in response to the hypoxic conditions found in human prostate cancers. In response to energy depletion, AMPK activation promotes metabolic changes to maintain cell proliferation and survival. Here, we report prevalent activation of AMPK in human prostate cancers and provide evidence that inhibition or depletion of AMPK leads to decreased cell proliferation and increased cell death. AMPK was highly activated in 40% of human prostate cancer specimens examined. Endogenous AMPK was active in both the androgen-sensitive LNCaP cells and the androgen-independent CWR22Rv1 human prostate cancer cells. Depletion of AMPK catalytic subunits by small interfering RNA or inhibition of AMPK activity with a small-molecule AMPK inhibitor (compound C) suppresses human prostate cancer cell proliferation. Apoptotic cell death was induced in LNCaP and CWR22Rv1 cells at compound C concentrations that inhibited AMPK activity. The evidence provided here is the first report that the activated AMPK pathway is involved in the growth and survival of human prostate cancer and offers novel potential targets for chemoprevention of human prostate cancer.
...
PMID:AMP-activated protein kinase promotes human prostate cancer cell growth and survival. 1937 45

The serine-threonine kinase LKB1 regulates cell polarity from Caenorhabditis elegans to man. Loss of lkb1 leads to a cancer predisposition, known as Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome. Biochemical analysis indicates that LKB1 can phosphorylate and activate a family of AMPK- like kinases, however, the precise contribution of these kinases to the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity is still unclear. Recent studies propose that LKB1 acts primarily through the AMP kinase to establish and/or maintain cell polarity. To determine whether this simple model of how LKB1 regulates cell polarity has relevance to complex tissues, we examined lkb1 mutants in the Drosophila eye. We show that adherens junctions expand and apical, junctional, and basolateral domains mix in lkb1 mutants. Surprisingly, we find LKB1 does not act primarily through AMPK to regulate cell polarity in the retina. Unlike lkb1 mutants, ampk retinas do not show elongated rhabdomeres or expansion of apical and junctional markers into the basolateral domain. In addition, nutrient deprivation does not reveal a more dramatic polarity phenotype in lkb1 photoreceptors. These data suggest that AMPK is not the primary target of LKB1 during eye development. Instead, we find that a number of other AMPK-like kinase, such as SIK, NUAK, Par-1, KP78a, and KP78b show phenotypes similar to weak lkb1 loss of function in the eye. These data suggest that in complex tissues, LKB1 acts on an array of targets to regulate cell polarity.
...
PMID:LKB1 regulates polarity remodeling and adherens junction formation in the Drosophila eye. 1944 85

The metabolic rheostat AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is unexpectedly required for proper cell division and faithful chromosomal segregation during mitosis. Although it is conceptually attractive to assume that AMPK-interpreted microenvironmental bioenergetics may strictly engage cell's energy status, cell grow, and cell division to avoid that energy stresses trigger cell death, the ultimate framework of AMPK activity towards chromosomal and cytoskeletal mitotic regulation is a question that remains unanswered. We herein reveal that the active form of the alpha-catalytic AMPK subunit (P-AMPKalpha(Thr172))-but not its total form (AMPKalpha)-transiently associates with several mitotic structures including centrosomes, spindle poles, the central spindle midzone and the midbody throughout all of the mitotic stages and cytokinesis in human cancer-derived epithelial cells. At prophase, P-AMPKalpha(Thr172) associates with the two asters of microtubules that begin to nucleate from mature centrosomes. The overlapping localization of P-AMPKalpha(Thr172) with the mitotic centrosomal Aurora-A kinase is also apparent on the microtubules near the spindle poles in metaphase and in early anaphase. This Aurora A-like centrosomal localization of P-AMPKalpha(Thr172) cannot be detected following chromatid separation following anaphase-telophase transition. Rather, toward the end of anaphase and in telophase P-AMPKalpha(Thr172) reactivity exhibited a similar but not identical localization to that occupied by the bona fide chromosomal passenger proteins INCENCP and Aurora-B. This localization of P-AMPKalpha(Thr172) at the central spindle and midbody persisted during the furrowing process and, at the completion of telophase, staining of P-AMPKalpha(Thr172) as doublet was apparent on either side of the midbody within the intercellular cytokinetic bridge. An identical mitotic geography of P-AMPKalpha(Thr172) was observed in cancer cells lacking the AMPK kinase LKB1, in non-cancerous human epithelial cells, and in mouse fibroblasts. The active form of AMPKalpha bound to the mitotic apparatus may physically tether the bioenergetic state of a cell to the four-dimensional regulation of the chromosomal and cytoskeletal mitotic events, thus suggesting a putative cytokinetic suppressor function. In this newly discovered scenario, we suggest a primordial mitotic role for the alpha catalytic AMPK subunit in the eukaryotic evolutionary process as it may ensure, at the cell level, an exquisite coordination between sensing of energy resources and the fundamental biological process of genome division.
...
PMID:The active form of the metabolic sensor: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) directly binds the mitotic apparatus and travels from centrosomes to the spindle midzone during mitosis and cytokinesis. 1971 74


1 2 3 Next >>