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Query: EC:2.7.12.2 (MEK)
18,161 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The extracellular signal-regulated kinases ERK1 and ERK2 are 43- and 41-kd enzymes activated by many extracellular cues. They lie within a protein kinase cascade that is used to achieve many cellular responses. In addition to the wide variety of regulatory contexts in which they are activated, they phosphorylate important regulatory proteins, including receptors, transcription factors, cytoskeletal proteins, and other protein kinases. Thus, the stimulation of this kinase cascade is thought to have a pleiotropic action. ERK1 and ERK2 are controlled by phosphorylation on threonine and tyrosine. To understand the regulatory mechanisms, wild-type and mutant ERKs were expressed in bacteria and phosphorylated with MEK, the enzyme that is upstream of ERKs. Wild-type proteins could be activated 500- to 1,000-fold in vitro by MEK. ERK3, an enzyme of 62 kd and only 50% identical to ERK1 and ERK2 in the catalytic core, was also phosphorylated by MEK in vitro. This suggests that all three of these enzymes are targets of common signaling pathways.
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PMID:Regulation and properties of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1, 2, and 3. 830 37

We describe a novel Triton-disrupted mammalian cell system wherein the pathways for activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases (MAPKs) are capable of direct biochemical manipulation in vitro. MAPKs p42mapk and p44mapk are activated in signal transduction cascade(s) initiated by occupancy of plasma membrane receptors for peptide growth factors, hormones, and neurotransmitters. One likely activation pathway for MAPKs consists of sequential activations of c-ras, c-raf-1, and a protein-tyrosine/threonine kinase, MAP kinase kinase. Triton-disrupted cells retained capacity for activation of the pathway by both peptide growth factors and by addition of GTP-loaded p21 rasVal12. Incubation of disrupted cells with an antibody that neutralized the function of c-ras (Y13-259) abolished receptor-mediated stimulation of MAPK as did acute addition of 200 microM azatyrosine. Activation of the pathway was reconstituted in a cell-free system using high-speed supernatants generated from Triton-disrupted cells together with purified plasma membranes from parental cells and as a heterogeneous system using purified plasma membranes from v-ras-transformed cells. These systems will allow biochemical dissection in vitro of the interaction(s) between c-ras and the MAPK pathway in mammalian cells.
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PMID:Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in Triton X-100 disrupted NIH-3T3 cells by p21 ras and in vitro by plasma membranes from NIH 3T3 cells. 833 4

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAP kinases) or meiosis-activated myelin basic protein kinase (p44mpk) are known to be activated by a mechanism involving dual phosphorylation at both tyrosine and serine/threonine in response to many extracellular stimuli. There has been considerable speculation as to whether MAP kinases are autophosphorylated and activated by an upstream protein kinase (MAP kinase kinase) or an activator of autophosphorylation or both. Here we report that the ets-related proteins elk-1 and delta elk-1 to be potential physiological substrates and activators of MAP kinases. Our results demonstrate for the first time that MAP kinase activators can also be non-kinase proteins that enhance the autophosphorylation and activation of MAP kinase. These findings could establish a general mechanism wherein specific MAP kinase activator protein(s) may function by interacting with MAP kinases ensuring a conformational change and stimulating their autophosphorylation and activation property. Our results also suggest that the amino-terminal truncated elk-1 proteins are better activators of MAP kinase than full length proteins indicating the presence of a potential negative regulatory region which may control the kinase activator function of elk-1 proteins. Our results suggest differential regulation of elk-1 and delta elk-1 proteins in fibroblasts stimulated by epidermal growth factor implicating a key role for these proteins in the signal transduction pathway. These results establish the presence of an alternative pathway for activation of MAP kinases. Thus we propose that elk-1 proteins may represent key intermediates which would transmit signals arriving at the surface of the cell from activated receptors to downstream MAP kinases in the cytoplasm to reach the transcriptional factors in the nucleus.
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PMID:Elk-1 proteins are phosphoproteins and activators of mitogen-activated protein kinase. 833 45

The activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) or mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) by a dual specific kinase, MEK (MAPK or ERK kinase), is a critical event in the mitogenic signal transduction pathway. However, little is known about the mechanism of ERK inactivation, which occurs after stimulation. In this report, we demonstrated that a dual specific protein phosphatase, HVH1 (human VH1 phosphatase homolog) whose expression is induced by mitogenic growth factors, specifically inactivates ERK. When several phosphoproteins were tested for recombinant HVH1, only MEK-activated ERK1 was dephosphorylated. HVH1 selectively dephosphorylated threonine and tyrosine residues but not serine residues of the activated ERK1. Inactivation of ERK1 by HVH1 could be reversed by MEK, suggesting that HVH1 dephosphorylates the same residues that are recognized and phosphorylated by MEK. Our results suggest that mitogenic growth factors transiently activate ERK (peak at 5 min followed by a rapid decline) by temporally activating MEK (the on signal) and inducing the expression of HVH phosphatase (the off signal).
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PMID:Dephosphorylation and inactivation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase by a mitogen-induced Thr/Tyr protein phosphatase. 834 96

MAP kinases p42mapk and p44mapk participate in a protein kinase cascade(s) important for signaling in many cell types and contexts. Both MAP kinases are activated in vitro by MAP kinase kinase, a protein-tyrosine and threonine kinase. A MAP kinase kinase cDNA was isolated from a rat kidney library by using peptide sequence data we obtained from MAP kinase kinase isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle. The deduced sequence, containing 393 amino acids (predicted mass, 43.5 kDa), is most similar to byr1 (Bypass of ras1), a yeast protein kinase functioning in the mating pathway induced by pheromones in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. An unusually large insert is present in MAP kinase kinase between domains IX and X and may contribute to protein-protein interactions with MAP kinase. Major (2.7 kilobases) and minor (1.7 kilobases) transcripts are widely expressed in rat tissues and appear to be derived from a single gene.
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PMID:Molecular structure of a protein-tyrosine/threonine kinase activating p42 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase: MAP kinase kinase. 838 Apr 94

Xenopus 45-kDa mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase (MAPKK) is a serine/threonine/tyrosine kinase, which activates MAP kinase (MAPK) by phosphorylating its threonine and tyrosine residues. MAPKK is active only when its threonine and/or serine residues are phosphorylated. We have identified from Xenopus eggs two protein kinases responsible for phosphorylation of MAPKK. The two kinases are separated by Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration chromatography. The higher molecular weight kinase phosphorylates MAPKK previously dephosphorylated and inactivated by phosphatase 2A treatment on mainly serine and slightly threonine residues, and reactivates the MAPKK, and is thus assumed to work as MAPKK kinase (MAPKKK) in vivo. The lower molecular weight kinase, identified as MAPK, phosphorylates the dephosphorylated MAPKK on mainly threonine and faintly serine residues, but does not reactivate the MAPKK activity. As Xenopus MAPKK contains a single phosphorylation consensus sequence (PXT388P) for MAPK in the C-terminal region, this T388 residue may be a major phosphorylation site catalyzed by MAPK. Thus, Xenopus MAPKK is phosphorylated in mature oocytes by not only an upstream kinase, MAPKKK, but also a downstream kinase, MAPK.
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PMID:Phosphorylation of Xenopus mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase by MAP kinase kinase kinase and MAP kinase. 838 23

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases are activated by combined tyrosine and threonine phosphorylation catalysed by MAP kinase kinase, a novel class of protein kinases with dual specificity for both tyrosine and serine/threonine. MAP kinase kinase is turned on by serine/threonine phosphorylation catalysed by an immediate upstream kinase. The MAP kinase cascade appears to be conserved during evolution and thus might play an essential role in diverse intracellular signaling processes from yeasts to vertebrates.
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PMID:The MAP kinase cascade is essential for diverse signal transduction pathways. 838 32

Mitogen-induced signal transduction is mediated by a cascade of protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. One of the immediate responses of mitogen stimulation is the activation of a family of protein kinases known as mitogen-activated protein kinase or extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). MEK (MAP kinase or ERK kinase) is the immediate upstream activator kinase of ERK. Two cDNAs, MEK1 and MEK2, were cloned and sequenced. MEK1 and MEK2 encode 393 and 400 amino acid residues, respectively. The human MEK1 shares 99% amino acid sequence identity with the murine MEK1 and 80% with human MEK2. Both MEK1 and MEK2 were expressed in Escherichia coli and shown to be able to activate recombinant human ERK1 in vitro. The purified MEK2 protein stimulated threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation on ERK1 and concomitantly activated ERK1 kinase activity more than 100-fold. The recombinant MEK2 showed lower activity as an ERK activator as compared with MEK purified from tissue. However, the recombinant MEK2 can be activated by serum-stimulated cell extract in vitro. MEKs, in a manner similar to ERKs, are likely to consist of a family of related proteins playing critical roles in signal transduction.
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PMID:Cloning and characterization of two distinct human extracellular signal-regulated kinase activator kinases, MEK1 and MEK2. 838 92

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase is an enzyme that activates the growth factor-regulated MAP kinase in vitro by a mechanism that involves direct phosphorylation of MAP kinase on tyrosine and threonine residues. MAP kinase kinase is stimulated by growth factor treatment of cells and has been shown to be inactivated with protein phosphatases, suggesting that it is regulated by protein phosphorylation. Analysis of two epidermal growth factor-stimulated forms of MAP kinase kinase, purified from 32P-labeled A431 cells, shows that the kinase is phosphorylated on serine and threonine residues and that treatment with protein phosphatases leads to serine dephosphorylation. Under conditions that lead to complete inactivation, only partial dephosphorylation of MAP kinase kinase is observed. Consistent with this finding, inactive forms of MAP kinase kinase, which separate from active forms during the course of purification, are also observed to be phosphorylated in intact cells.
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PMID:Metabolic labeling of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase in A431 cells demonstrates phosphorylation on serine and threonine residues. 838 70

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases are serine/threonine protein kinases activated by dual phosphorylation on threonine and tyrosine residues. A MAP kinase kinase (MKK1 or MEK1) has been identified as a dual-specificity protein kinase that is sufficient to phosphorylate MAP kinases p42mapk and p44mapk on the regulatory threonine and tyrosine residues. Because of the multiplicity of MAP kinase isoforms and the diverse circumstances and agonists leading to their activation, we thought it unlikely that a single MKK could accommodate this complexity. Indeed, two protein bands with MKK activity have previously been identified after renaturation following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We now report the molecular cloning and characterization of a second rat MAP kinase kinase cDNA, MKK2. MKK2 cDNA contains an open reading frame encoding a protein of 400 amino acids, 7 residues longer than MKK1 (MEK1). The amino acid sequence of MKK2 is 81% identical to that of MKK1, but nucleotide sequence differences occur throughout the aligned MKK2 and MKK1 cDNAs, indicating that MKK2 is the product of a distinct gene. MKK1 and MKK2 mRNAs are expressed differently in rat tissues. Both cDNAs when expressed in COS cells displayed the ability to phosphorylate and activate p42mapk and p44mapk, both MKK1 and MKK2 were activated in vivo in response to serum, and both could be phosphorylated and activated by the v-Raf protein in vitro. However, differences between MKK1 and MKK2 in sites of phosphorylation by proline-directed protein kinases predict differences in feedback regulation.
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PMID:Identification and characterization of a new mammalian mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, MKK2. 839 35


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