Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.12.2 (MEK)
 18,161 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways are three-kinase modules that mediate diverse cellular processes and have been highly conserved among eukaryotes. By using a functional complementation screen in yeast, we have identified a human MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) that shares homology with members of the mixed lineage kinase (MLK) family and therefore was called MRK (MLK-related kinase). We report the structure of the MRK gene, from which are generated two splice forms of MRK, MRK-alpha and MRK-beta, encoding for proteins of 800 and 456 amino acids, respectively. By using a combination of solid phase protein kinase assays, transient transfections in cells, and analysis of endogenous proteins in stably transfected Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, we found that MRK-beta preferentially activates ERK6/p38gamma via MKK3/MKK6 and JNK through MKK4/MKK7. We also show that expression of wild type MRK increases the cell population in the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle, whereas dominant negative MRK attenuates the G(2) arrest caused by gamma-radiation. In addition, exposure of cells to gamma-radiation induces MRK activity. These data suggest that MRK may mediate gamma-radiation signaling leading to cell cycle arrest and that MRK activity is necessary for the cell cycle checkpoint regulation in cells.
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PMID:MRK, a mixed lineage kinase-related molecule that plays a role in gamma-radiation-induced cell cycle arrest. 1183 44

A stress-activated protein kinase pathway comprising mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (MKKs), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and the transcription factor c-Jun is implicated in neuronal apoptosis. Using an immune-complex kinase assay, we measured the activation of MKK4 and MKK7 in low potassium (LK)-induced apoptosis of rat cerebellar granule neurons (CGN). MKK7, but not MKK4, was activated within the first 4-6 h in four independent sets of 14-h CGN apoptosis time-courses. CEP-1347 (500 nM), an mixed-lineage kinase 3 inhibitor, prevented MKK7 activation and cell death following exposure of CGN cultures to LK-induced apoptosis. Western blot analysis revealed that levels of phosphorylated c-Jun were elevated between 30 min and 10 h of CGN apoptosis, temporally consistent with MKK7 activation. These data suggest that MKK7 is responsible for activating the JNK pathway during LK-induced CGN apoptosis.
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PMID:Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 is activated during low potassium-induced apoptosis in rat cerebellar granule neurons. 1184 56

The mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family is activated in response to a wide variety of external stress signals such as UV irradiation, heat shock, and many chemotherapeutic drugs and leads to the induction of apoptosis. A novel series of pyrrolo-1,5-benzoxazepines have been shown to potently induce apoptosis in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells, which are resistant to many chemotherapeutic agents. In this study we have delineated part of the mechanism by which a representative compound known as PBOX-6 induces apoptosis. We have investigated whether PBOX-6 induces activation of MAP kinase signaling pathways in CML cells. Treatment of K562 cells with PBOX-6 resulted in the transient activation of two JNK isoforms, JNK1 and JNK2. In contrast, PBOX-6 did not activate the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) or p38. Apoptosis was found to occur independently of the small GTPases Ras, Rac, and Cdc42 but involved phosphorylation of the JNK substrates, c-Jun and ATF-2. Pretreatment of K562 cells with the JNK inhibitor, dicoumarol, abolished PBOX-6-induced phosphorylation of c-Jun and ATF-2 and inhibited the induced apoptosis, suggesting that JNK activation is an essential component of the apoptotic pathway induced by PBOX-6. Consistent with this finding, transfection of K562 cells with the JNK scaffold protein, JIP-1, inhibited JNK activity and apoptosis induced by PBOX-6. JIP-1 specifically scaffolds JNK, MKK7, and members of the mixed-lineage kinase (MLK) family, implicating these kinases upstream of JNK in the apoptotic pathway induced by PBOX-6 in K562 cells.
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PMID:Activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway is essential during PBOX-6-induced apoptosis in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells. 1185 43

Recent studies have revealed the essential role of the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) ligand (RANKL) in osteoclast differentiation and activation. Adenovirus vector could efficiently transduce genes into RAW264.7 cells, which differentiate into osteoclast-like multinucleated cells in the presence of RANKL. The role of NF-kappaB and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation in RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation was investigated using an adenovirus vector carrying the dominant negative 1kappaB kinase 2 gene (AxIKK2DN) or dominant negative MKK7 gene (AxMKK7DN). IKK2DN and MKK7DN overexpression in RAW cells specifically suppressed the NF-kappaB activation and JNK activation in response to RANKL, respectively, without affecting other signaling pathways. Either inhibition of NF-kappaB or JNK pathways dose-dependently inhibited osteoclast formation induced by RANKL. These results suggest that both NF-kappaB and JNK activation are independently required for osteoclast differentiation.
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PMID:Possible involvement of IkappaB kinase 2 and MKK7 in osteoclastogenesis induced by receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand. 1191 18

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are activated in response to various extracellular stimuli, and their activities are regulated by upstream activating kinases and protein phosphatases such as MAPK phosphatases (MKPs). We report the identification and characterization of a novel MKP termed SKRP1 (SAPK pathway-regulating phosphatase 1). It contains an extended active site sequence motif conserved in all MKPs but lacks a Cdc25 homology domain. Immunoblotting analysis revealed that SKRP1 is constitutively expressed, and its transcripts of 4.0 and 1.0 kb were detected in almost tissues examined. SKRP1 was highly specific for c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in vitro and effectively suppressed the JNK activation in response to tumor necrosis factor alpha or thapsigargin. Endogenous SKRP1 was present predominantly in the cytoplasm and co-localized with JNK. However, SKRP1 does not bind directly to its target JNK, but co-precipitation of SKRP1 with the MAPK kinase MKK7, a JNK activator, was found in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we found that SKRP1 did not interfere with the co-precipitation of MKK7 with JNK. Together, our findings indicate that SKRP1 interacts with its physiological substrate JNK through MKK7, thereby leading to the precise regulation of JNK activity in vivo.
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PMID:A novel dual specificity phosphatase SKRP1 interacts with the MAPK kinase MKK7 and inactivates the JNK MAPK pathway. Implication for the precise regulation of the particular MAPK pathway. 1195 61

Stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) pathway-regulating phosphatase 1 (SKRP1) has been identified as a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatase (MKP) family that interacts physically with the MAPK kinase (MAPKK) MKK7, a c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activator, and inactivates the MAPK JNK pathway. Although these findings indicated that SKRP1 contributes to the precise regulation of JNK signaling, it remains to be elucidated how SKRP1 is integrated into this pathway. We report that SKRP1 also plays a scaffold role for the JNK signaling, judged by the following observations. SKRP1 selectively formed the stable complexes with MKK7 but not with MKK4 and biphasically regulated the MKK7 activity and MKK7-induced gene transcription in vivo. Co-precipitation analysis between SKRP1 and MKK7-activating MAPKK kinases (MAPKKKs) revealed that SKRP1 also interacted with the MAPKKK, apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1), but not with MAP kinase kinase kinase 1 (MEKK1). Consistent with these findings, SKRP1 expression increased the ASK1-MKK7 complexes in a dose-dependent manner and specifically enhanced the activation of MKK7 by ASK1. Thus, our findings are, to our knowledge, the first evidence to show that an MKP also functions as a scaffold protein for the particular MAPK signaling.
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PMID:Scaffold role of a mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase, SKRP1, for the JNK signaling pathway. 1195 62

The c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) (also known as stress-activated protein kinases or SAPKs), members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, regulate gene expression in response to a variety of physiological and unphysiological stimuli. Gene knockout experiments and the use of dominant interfering mutants have pointed to a role for JNKs in the processes of cell differentiation and survival as well as oncogenic transformation. Direct analysis of the transforming potential of JNKs has been hampered so far by the lack of constitutively active forms of these kinases. Recently, such mutants have become available by fusion of the MAPK with its direct upstream activator kinase. We have generated a constitutively active SAPK beta-MKK7 hybrid protein and, using this constitutively active kinase, we are able to demonstrate the transforming potential of activated JNK, which is weaker than that of classical oncogenes such as Ras or Raf. The inducible expression of SAPK beta-MKK7 caused morphological transformation of NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Additionally, these cells formed small foci of transformed cells and grew anchorage-independent in soft agar. Furthermore, similar to oncogenic Ras and Raf, the expression of activated SAPK beta resulted in the disassembly of F-actin stress fibers. Our data suggest that constitutive JNK activation elicits major aspects of cellular transformation but is unable to induce the complete set of changes which are required to establish the fully transformed phenotype.
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PMID:Constitutive JNK activation in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts induces a partially transformed phenotype. 1203 58

Glutathione S-transferase pi (GSTpi) protects cells from death by altering intracellular oxidative stress. In order to understand the mechanism of GSTpi protection, a cell death model induced by serum depletion as the stress was established. Cotransfection of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and GSTpi cDNA was performed to elucidate the impact of GSTpi on ASK1 activity, as well as on its downstream signals, MKK7 and JNK, and to elucidate the potential protection of GSTpi on 293 cell death induced by serum depletion. The dominant negative mutant of JNK was used to explore if the blocking of the JNK pathway led to cell death inhibition. It was found that GSTpi had a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on activation induced by serum depletion, and also on inhibition both on MKK7 and JNK. Intracellular expression of GSTpi significantly inhibited serum depletion-induced cell death. Blocking the JNK pathway by transfection of a dominant negative form of JNK (JNK (APF)) brought about significant inhibition of cell death induced by serum depletion with an inhibiting rate as high as 15%. All the results suggest that the mechanism of GSTpi protection on serum depletion-induced cell death works through an ASK1-MKK7-JNK pathway.
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PMID:Glutathione S-transferase pi Protects Serum Depletion-induced Cell Death by Inhibiting ASK1-MKK7-JNK Pathway in the 293 Cells. 1205 Aug 8

The involvement of dual specificity phosphatases (DSPs) in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling has been mostly limited to the inactivation of MAPKs by the direct dephosphorylation of the TXY motif within their activation loop. We report the cloning and characterization of a murine DSP, called JNK pathway-associated phosphatase (JKAP), which lacks the regulatory region present in most other MAP kinase phosphatases (MKPs) and is preferentially expressed in murine Lin(-)Sca-1(+) stem cells. Overexpression of JKAP in human embryonic kidney 293T cells specifically activated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) but not p38 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2. Overexpression of a mutant JKAP, JKAP-C88S, blocked tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced JNK activation. Targeted gene disruption in murine embryonic stem cells abolished JNK activation by tumor necrosis factor-alpha and transforming growth factor-beta, but not by ultraviolet-C irradiation, indicating that JKAP is necessary for optimal JNK activation. JKAP associated with JNK and MKK7, but not SEK1, in vivo. However, JKAP did not interact with JNK in vitro, suggesting that JKAP exerts its effect on JNK in an indirect manner. Taken together, these studies identify a positive regulator for the JNK pathway and suggest a novel role for DSP in mitogen-activated protein kinase regulation.
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PMID:The dual specificity JKAP specifically activates the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway. 1213 58

Gastric infection, as well as inflammation, caused by Helicobacter pylori, activates the production of cytokines and chemokines by mononuclear cells; interleukin-8 (IL-8) is one of the major inflammatory chemokines. Since H. pylori does not invade mucosal tissue, we observed the effect of the water extract of H. pylori (HPE), containing shed factors, on the production of IL-8 by human peripheral blood monocytes and the human monocyte cell line THP-1. HPE-treatment induced activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase), p38 and JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase), an effect which was not dependent on the presence of the cag pathogenicity island. p38 MAPK activation was sustained. The specific inhibitors, U0126 (for ERK1/2 signalling) and SB203580 (for p38 MAPK signalling), both abrogated IL-8 secretion from HPE-treated THP-1. Dominant-negative mutants of the upstream kinases MEK1 (MAPK/ERK kinase 1), MKK (MAPK kinase) 6 and MKK7 also inhibited IL-8 secretion, pointing to a role of all three MAPKs in HPE-mediated IL-8 release. The inhibitory effects of polymyxin B and anti-CD14 antibody suggested that the effect of HPE on MAPKs was mediated by H. pylori lipopolysaccharide (LPS). By analysis of IL-8-promoter-driven luciferase gene expression, we observed that the effects of HPE-induced nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation and MAPK signalling were mediated at the level of the IL-8 promoter. While ERK1/2 activation could be linked to enhanced DNA binding of activator protein-1 (AP-1), p38 MAPK signalling did not affect AP-1 DNA binding. Taken together, these results provide the first evidence that LPS from H. pylori stimulates IL-8 release from cells of the monocytic lineage through activation of NF-kappaB and signalling along MAPK cascades. The stimulation of MAPK signalling in macrophages by LPS of H. pylori amplifies the inflammatory response associated with gastric H. pylori infection and needs to be taken into consideration when developing therapeutics based on these signalling pathways.
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PMID:Mitogen-activated protein kinases and nuclear factor-kappaB regulate Helicobacter pylori-mediated interleukin-8 release from macrophages. 1215 Jul 10


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