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)

Sorbitol, "osmotic stress", stimulates GLUT4 glucose transporter translocation to the plasma membrane and glucose transport by a phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase-independent mechanism that reportedly involves non-receptor proline-rich tyrosine kinase-2 (PYK2) but subsequent events are obscure. In the present study, we found that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway components, growth-factor-receptor-bound-2 protein, son of sevenless (SOS), RAS, RAF and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase/ERK kinase, MEK(-1), operating downstream of PYK2, were required for sorbitol-stimulated GLUT4 translocation/glucose transport in rat adipocytes, L6 myotubes and 3T3/L1 adipocytes. Furthermore, sorbitol activated atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) through a similar mechanism depending on the PYK2/ERK pathway, independent of PI 3-kinase and its downstream effector, 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK-1). Like PYK2/ERK pathway components, aPKCs were required for sorbitol-stimulated GLUT4 translocation/glucose transport. Interestingly, sorbitol stimulated increases in phospholipase D (PLD) activity and generation of phosphatidic acid (PA), which directly activated aPKCs. As with aPKCs and glucose transport, sorbitol-stimulated PLD activity was dependent on the ERK pathway. Moreover, PLD-generated PA was required for sorbitol-induced activation of aPKCs and GLUT4 translocation/glucose transport. Our findings suggest that sorbitol sequentially activates PYK2, the ERK pathway and PLD, thereby increasing PA, which activates aPKCs and GLUT4 translocation. This mechanism contrasts with that of insulin, which primarily uses PI 3-kinase, D3-PO(4) polyphosphoinositides and PDK-1 to activate aPKCs.
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PMID:Sorbitol activates atypical protein kinase C and GLUT4 glucose transporter translocation/glucose transport through proline-rich tyrosine kinase-2, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway and phospholipase D. 1187 94

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) induces scattering and morphogenesis of epithelial cells through the activation of the MET tyrosine kinase receptor. Although the activated MET receptor recruits a number of signaling proteins, little is known of the downstream signaling pathways activated by HGF/SF. In this study, we wished to examine the signaling pathway leading to activation of the ETS1 transcription factor. Using in vitro and in vivo kinase assays, we found that HGF/SF activates the ERK1 MAP kinase, leading to the phosphorylation of the threonine 38 residue of ETS1 within a putative MAP kinase phosphorylation site (PLLT38P). This threonine residue was neither phosphorylated by JNK1, nor by p38 MAP kinases and was required for the induction of transcriptional activity of ETS1 by HGF/SF. Using kinase and transcription assays, we further demonstrated that phosphorylation and activation of ETS1 occurs downstream of a RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway. The functional involvement of this pathway in HGF/SF action was demonstrated using U0126, a pharmacological inhibitor of MEK, which blocked phosphorylation and activation of ETS1, RAS-dependent transcriptional responses, cell scattering and morphogenesis. These data demonstrated that ETS1 is a downstream target of HGF/SF acting through a RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway and provides a signaling pathway leading to the regulation of gene expression by HGF/SF.
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PMID:Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor activates the ETS1 transcription factor by a RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. 1194 14

Exercise increases glucose transport in muscle by activating 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), but subsequent events are unclear. Presently, we examined the possibility that AMPK increases glucose transport through atypical protein kinase Cs (aPKCs) by activating proline-rich tyrosine kinase-2 (PYK2), ERK pathway components, and phospholipase D (PLD). In mice, treadmill exercise rapidly activated ERK and aPKCs in mouse vastus lateralis muscles. In rat extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles, (a) AMPK activator, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-d-riboside (AICAR), activated PYK2, ERK and aPKCs; (b) effects of AICAR on ERK and aPKCs were blocked by tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, and MEK1 inhibitor, PD98059; and (c) effects of AICAR on aPKCs and 2-deoxyglucose (2-DOG) uptake were inhibited by genistein, PD98059, and PLD-inhibitor, 1-butanol. Similarly, in L6 myotubes, (a) AICAR activated PYK2, ERK, PLD, and aPKCs; (b) effects of AICAR on ERK were inhibited by genistein, PD98059, and expression of dominant-negative PYK2; (c) effects of AICAR on PLD were inhibited by MEK1 inhibitor UO126; (d) effects of AICAR on aPKCs were inhibited by genistein, PD98059, 1-butanol, and expression of dominant-negative forms of PYK2, GRB2, SOS, RAS, RAF, and ERK; and (e) effects of AICAR on 2DOG uptake/GLUT4 translocation were inhibited by genistein, PD98059, UO126, 1-butanol, cell-permeable myristoylated PKC-zeta pseudosubstrate, and expression of kinase-inactive RAF, ERK, and PKC-zeta. AMPK activator dinitrophenol had effects on ERK, aPKCs, and 2-DOG uptake similar to those of AICAR. Our findings suggest that effects of exercise on glucose transport that are dependent on AMPK are mediated via PYK2, the ERK pathway, PLD, and aPKCs.
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PMID:Activation of the ERK pathway and atypical protein kinase C isoforms in exercise- and aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-riboside (AICAR)-stimulated glucose transport. 1197 88

Cancers arise owing to the accumulation of mutations in critical genes that alter normal programmes of cell proliferation, differentiation and death. As the first stage of a systematic genome-wide screen for these genes, we have prioritized for analysis signalling pathways in which at least one gene is mutated in human cancer. The RAS RAF MEK ERK MAP kinase pathway mediates cellular responses to growth signals. RAS is mutated to an oncogenic form in about 15% of human cancer. The three RAF genes code for cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinases that are regulated by binding RAS. Here we report BRAF somatic missense mutations in 66% of malignant melanomas and at lower frequency in a wide range of human cancers. All mutations are within the kinase domain, with a single substitution (V599E) accounting for 80%. Mutated BRAF proteins have elevated kinase activity and are transforming in NIH3T3 cells. Furthermore, RAS function is not required for the growth of cancer cell lines with the V599E mutation. As BRAF is a serine/threonine kinase that is commonly activated by somatic point mutation in human cancer, it may provide new therapeutic opportunities in malignant melanoma.
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PMID:Mutations of the BRAF gene in human cancer. 2339 51

On one hand, self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells rely exclusively upon the LIFR beta/gp130-signaling pathway and the subsequent activation of the STAT3 transcription factor. On the other hand, the much-studied cellular machinery, that is organized to collect extracellular signals, transduce them via tyrosine kinase receptors and the SOS-RAS-RAF-MEK-MAPK pathway, ultimately leading to regulation of D-type cyclin expression, while regulation of the retinoblastoma (RB) protein phosphorylation is likely not to be operative in ES cells. We hypothetize that ES cells are blinkered by the lack of RB-dependent control of the G1/S transition, and that commitment into differentiation triggers the birth of a regulatable G1 phase. We discuss how the LIFR beta/gp130-signaling pathway and the ES cell-cycle machinery may functionally interact to promote self-renewal.
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PMID:[Cell cycle control and self-renewal of embryonic stem cells]. 1213 26

Improvements in our understanding of the intrinsic aberrancies in cancer cells have enabled the design and development of novel therapeutics that specifically target these changes. Among the many complex cellular pathways and mechanisms which have been unveiled by new molecular techniques, RAS-mediated signal transduction is one met with tremendous research interests. Activation of RAS initiates several signaling cascades, of which the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway is among the better delineated, and is the main focus of this review. Other cellular consequences of RAS activation including interactions with the RHO-family proteins, the PI3-kinase pathway, and other mitogen activated protein kinase cascades, will be discussed. The intricate balance and coordination of multiple RAS-mediated signals lead to ultimate effects on cell growth, differentiation, cycling and survival. Pharmacological strategies such as analog development, synthesis of small molecule inhibitors, antisense technology, and vaccine therapy have been utilized to intervene with key RAS-signaling proteins, in an attempt to provide rational therapeutic solutions in malignant diseases.
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PMID:Rationale for Ras and raf-kinase as a target for cancer therapeutics. 1236 50

The result of our previous study has shown that the K-ras mutant (pK568MRSV) transfected human adrenocortical cells can significantly increase cortisol production and independently cause cell transformation. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the active K-ras oncogene on the cortisol production in normal human adrenocortical cells. First we used isopropyl thiogalactoside to induce the inducible mutant K-ras expression plasmid, pK568MRSV, in the stable transfected human adrenocortical cells. The result showed that the increase of RasGTP levels in transfected cells was time-dependent after isopropyl thiogalactoside induction. Additionally, results from Western blot analysis revealed significant elevation in phosphorylation of c-Raf-1 and Mitogen-activated protein kinase. We also detected the levels of mRNA encoding Cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450(SCC)), 17alpha-Hydroxylase/17,20-lyase (P450(c17)) and 3beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3betaHSD) were increased in human adrenocortical cells transfected with mutant K-ras after IPTG treatment. The increase of mRNA amount in P450(scc) P450(c17) and 3betaHSD and the elevation of cortisol level were inhibited with a pretreatment of PD098059, a specific extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor. In our previous report, we proved that lovastatin, a pharmacological inhibitor of p21(ras) function, also reversed the increase of cortisol level in mutant K-ras stably transfected human adrenocortical cells. Taken together, these findings proved that the active mutant Ras enhanced not only cell proliferation but also steroidogenesis in steroidogenic phenotype cells by activating Raf-MEK-MAPK related signal transduction pathway. Therefore, we believe that K-ras mutants influence regulation of steroidogenesis in adrenocortical cells through RAF-MEK-MAPK pathway.
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PMID:Mutant K-ras oncogene regulates steroidogenesis of normal human adrenocortical cells by the RAF-MEK-MAPK pathway. 1243 92

RAS proteins are critical regulators of mitosis and are mutationally activated in many human tumors. RAS signaling is also known to mediate long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term memory formation in postmitotic neurons, in part through activation of the RAF-MEK-ERK pathway. The RAS effector RIN1 appears to function through competitive inhibition of RAS-RAF binding and also through diversion of RAS signaling to alternate pathways. We show that RIN1 is preferentially expressed in postnatal forebrain neurons in which it is localized in dendrites and physically associated with RAS, suggesting a role in RAS-mediated postsynaptic neuronal plasticity. Mice with an Rin1 gene disruption showed a striking enhancement in amygdala LTP. In addition, two independent behavioral tests demonstrated elevated amygdala-dependent aversive memory in Rin1(-/-) mice. These results indicate that RIN1 serves as an inhibitory modulator of neuronal plasticity in aversive memory formation.
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PMID:The RAS effector RIN1 modulates the formation of aversive memories. 1257 3

Dysregulated activation of Ras or its downstream effectors such as mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase and ERK has been shown to play a critical role in tumorigenesis of many cancer types. However, in melanoma, activating mutations in Ras are rarely observed and are limited to N-Ras in UV-exposed cells. In this study, we identify constitutively activated ERK in almost all melanoma cell lines and in tumor tissues tested, which is in contrast to normal melanocytes and several early stage radial growth phase melanoma lines where ERK can be activated by serum or growth factors. Constitutive activation of ERK is preceded by phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase and c-RAF. In all of the melanoma cell lines tested, Ras is constitutively activated without underlying mutations. On the contrary, activating mutations in the kinase domain of BRAF are present in the majority of the cell lines tested. Furthermore, ERK activation can be partially inhibited from the cell surface using inhibitors of fibroblast growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor but not interleukin 8 signaling pathways. These data suggest that melanoma growth, invasion, and metastasis are attributable to constitutively activated ERK apparently mediated by excessive growth factors through autocrine mechanisms and BRAF kinase activation.
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PMID:Constitutive mitogen-activated protein kinase activation in melanoma is mediated by both BRAF mutations and autocrine growth factor stimulation. 1259 21

Up to 50% of the transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) express an activated EGF pathway involving MAP/MEK and RAF kinase thus providing a novel means to selectively eliminate transformed cells expressing such proteins. This EGF pathway expression phenotype was also confirmed in our MGH-U3 and room temperature-112 human TCC cell lines, which makes them a suitable model target for the reovirus oncolysis. We report here on an in vitro assay of co-culture spheroids using either human or rat TCC cells with their corresponding fibroblasts to examine the potential of viral selective lysis for TCC. Reovirus, a respiratory enteric orphan virus, which mammals are exposed to early in life, was used in this study. Selective killing of transformed versus normal cells was assayed by time-lapse photography, vital dye staining, immunohistochemistry, and MTT assay. In this in vitro bladder cancer model, reovirus selectively destroyed the transformed cells by lysis or induction of apoptosis. Based on these findings we have initiated an in vivo pre-clinical study on intravesical administration of reovirus in an animal model to further explore the effect of reovirus-mediated oncolysis of TCC.
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PMID:Selective reovirus killing of bladder cancer in a co-culture spheroid model. 1272 37


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