Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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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)

We recently reported that insulin stimulation results in the serine phosphorylation of STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription-3). In the present study, we identified serine 727 as the site of insulin-stimulated STAT3 serine phosphorylation. This phosphorylation event occurs independent of tyrosine phosphorylation. Furthermore, interleukin-6-induced tyrosine phosphorylation can occur independent of serine phosphorylation, demonstrating that these two phosphorylation pathways are mechanistically unrelated. Selective activation of the JNK and p38 family of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases by anisomycin treatment did not result in the phosphorylation of STAT3. In contrast, activation of the ERK MAP kinase pathway with both insulin and osmotic shock resulted in the serine phosphorylation of STAT3. In addition, expression of a dominant-interfering Ras mutant (N17Ras) or treatment with the specific MEK inhibitor (PD98059) prevented the insulin stimulation of STAT3 serine phosphorylation. Blockade of ERK activation by expression of the MAP kinase phosphatase (MKP-1) had no effect on insulin-stimulated STAT3 serine phosphorylation. Together, these data demonstrate that the insulin-stimulated serine phosphorylation of STAT3 occurs by a MEK-dependent pathway that is independent of ERK activation.
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PMID:Signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 serine phosphorylation by insulin is mediated by a Ras/Raf/MEK-dependent pathway. 932 21

We previously showed that sphingosine 1-phosphate (SPP) acts as a second messenger for tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced interleukin-6 (IL-6) synthesis in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. In the present study, we further investigated the mechanism of IL-6 synthesis induced by SPP in MC3T3-E1 cells. SPP significantly induced p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activity. PD98059, an inhibitor of MAP kinase kinase, suppressed SPP-induced IL-6 synthesis as well as SPP-induced MAP kinase activation. The patterns of both inhibitions were similar. TMB-8, an inhibitor of Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular Ca2+ stores, significantly suppressed the SPP-induced IL-6 synthesis. These results strongly suggest that SPP-induced IL-6 synthesis is mediated via p42/p44 MAP kinase activation in osteoblast-like cells and that the SPP-induced IL-6 synthesis is dependent on intracellular Ca2+ mobilization.
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PMID:Activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase is involved in sphingosine 1-phosphate-stimulated interleukin-6 synthesis in osteoblasts. 941 15

We recently demonstrated that, in rat aortic smooth muscle cells, alpha-thrombin stimulated Stat3/SIF-A (signal transducers and activators of transcription 3/sis-inducing factor-A) activity [G. J. Bhat et al. (1997) Hypertension 29(Pt. 2), 356-360]. In the present study, we observed that exposure of CCL39 cells (a Chinese hamster lung fibroblast cell line) to alpha-thrombin resulted in a time-dependent decrease in basal SIF-A activity. We hypothesized that the decrease in basal SIF-A was due to the initiation of an inhibitory pathway, following alpha-thrombin exposure. To test this hypothesis, we determined if alpha-thrombin would inhibit Stat3 and SIF-A activation by interleukin-6 (IL-6), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). In support of this hypothesis, alpha-thrombin inhibited the Stat3/SIF-A response induced by all the above cytokines. The inhibition by alpha-thrombin was concentration dependent, was sensitive to hirudin, and was mimicked by the thrombin receptor agonist peptide. The inhibition did not require the activation of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-sensitive isoforms of protein kinase C and was reversed by pretreatment with the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 (MAPKK1 or MEK1) inhibitor PD98059. Inhibitory cross talk between alpha-thrombin and IL-6 was also observed in MRC-5 cells, a fibroblast cell line derived from human lung tissue. Thus, we identify a novel alpha-thrombin inhibitory pathway which, acting through a MAPKK1-dependent mechanism, blocks IL-6-, LIF-, and CNTF-induced Stat3/SIF-A activation. This inhibitory cross talk may provide an important regulatory function to modulate gene transcription by these cytokines, during immune and inflammatory responses.
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PMID:alpha-Thrombin inhibits signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 signaling by interleukin-6, leukemia inhibitory factor, and ciliary neurotrophic factor in CCL39 cells. 947 6

Gene activation and cellular differentiation induced by interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transcription factor Stat3 are suppressed by several factors, including ionomycin, granulocyte/macrophage-colony-stimulating factor, and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), that block IL-6-induced Stat3 activation. These inhibitory agents activate mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and thus the role of MAPKs in the mechanism of inhibition of Stat3 activation was investigated. Inhibition of IL-6-induced Stat3 activation by PMA and ionomycin was rapid (within 5 min) and did not require new RNA or protein synthesis. Inhibition of Stat3 DNA-binding activity and tyrosine phosphorylation by PMA, ionomycin, and granulocyte/macrophage-colony-stimulating factor was reversed when activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) group of MAPKs was blocked by using specific kinase inhibitors. Expression of constitutively active MEK1, the kinase that activates ERKs, or overexpression of ERK2, but not JNK1, inhibited Stat3 activation. Inhibition of Stat3 correlated with suppression of IL-6-induction of a signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-dependent reporter gene. In contrast to IL-6, activation of Stat3 by interferon-alpha was not inhibited. MEKs and ERKs inhibited IL-6 activation of Stat3 harboring a mutation at serine-727, the major site for serine phosphorylation, similar to inhibition of wild-type Stat3, and inhibited Janus kinases Jak1 and Jak2 upstream of Stat3 in the Jak-STAT-signaling pathway. These results demonstrate an ERK-mediated mechanism for inhibiting IL-6-induced Jak-STAT signaling that is rapid and inducible, and thus differs from previously described mechanisms for downmodulation of the Jak-STAT pathway. This inhibitory pathway provides a molecular mechanism for the antagonism of Stat3-mediated IL-6 activity by factors that activate ERKs.
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PMID:Rapid inhibition of interleukin-6 signaling and Stat3 activation mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinases. 973 97

Exposure of primary human lung fibroblasts (HLF) to interleukin-6 (IL-6) rapidly induced Stat3 (signal transducers and activators of transcription 3) tyrosine phosphorylation. In these cells, alpha-thrombin did not induce tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat3; however, it potently induced its serine phosphorylation. Interestingly, a short pretreatment of cells with alpha-thrombin significantly inhibited IL-6-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat3. The inhibition by alpha-thrombin was attenuated if cells were pretreated with U0126, a specific inhibitor of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase 1 (MAPKK1). Exposure of HLF cells to IL-6 induced a twofold increase in gp130 mRNA levels; however, alpha-thrombin inhibited this IL-6-induced response almost to control levels. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that in HLF cells alpha-thrombin inhibits IL-6-induced Stat3 signaling via activation of MAPKK1 and that this cross-talk regulates IL-6-induced gp130 gene expression.
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PMID:alpha-thrombin inhibits interleukin-6-induced Stat3 signaling and gp130 gene expression in primary cultures of human lung fibroblasts. 1008 Sep 49

Prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) significantly induced p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activity in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. PD98059, a selective inhibitor of MAP kinase kinase, inhibited PGF2alpha-induced interleukin-6 (IL-6) synthesis as well as PGF2alpha-induced p42/p44 MAP kinase activation. PD98059 suppressed the IL-6 synthesis induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), a protein kinase C (PKC) activator, or NaF, an activator of heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein, as well as the p42/p44 MAP kinase activation by TPA or NaF. Calphostin C, a highly potent and specific inhibitor of PKC, inhibited the PGF2alpha-induced p42/p44 MAP kinase activity. These results strongly suggest that PKC-dependent p42/p44 MAP kinase activatioin is involved in PGF2alpha-induced IL-6 synthesis in osteoblasts.
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PMID:p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation is involved in prostaglandin F2alpha-induced interleukin-6 synthesis in osteoblasts. 1037 4

Recent studies suggest that atherosclerosis is a kind of inflammatory process and that cytokine plays important roles in this process. Although it is generally accepted that angiotensin II (Ang II) plays an important role in atherogenesis, the role of Ang II in cytokine production has not been explored. In this report, we investigated the effect of Ang II on the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is a multifunctional proinflammatory cytokine in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. Ang II significantly increased the expression of IL-6 mRNA and protein in a dose-dependent manner (10(-10) to 10(-6) mol/L). The expression of IL-6 mRNA induced by Ang II showed 2 peaks at 30 minutes and 12 to 24 hours after stimulation. The effect of Ang II on IL-6 release and mRNA expression was completely blocked by an Ang II type 1 receptor antagonist, CV11974; however, an Ang II type 2 receptor antagonist, PD123319, showed no effect. Chelating of intracellular Ca(2+) with BAPTA-AM, inhibition of tyrosine kinase with genistein, and inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase with PD98059 completely abolished the effect of Ang II. However, downregulation of protein kinase C by pretreatment with a phorbol ester for 24 hours or a specific protein kinase C inhibitor, calphostin C, did not affect the Ang II-induced expression of IL-6 mRNA. Deletion and mutational analysis of IL-6 gene promoter showed that cAMP-responsive element was important for Ang II-induced IL-6 gene expression. Gel mobility shift assay showed an increase of cAMP-responsive element binding protein by Ang II. These results provide new insights into Ang II signaling and the role of Ang II in the progression of inflammatory changes of blood vessels.
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PMID:Induction of interleukin-6 expression by angiotensin II in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. 1040 34

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) are members of a subfamily of related cytokines that share gp130 as common signal-transducing receptor component. CNTF has recently been demonstrated to induce increased survival and neuronal differentiation of P19 embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are still elusive. Here we report that CNTF and LIF, but not interleukin-6, activated signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT)-reporter constructs in P19 EC cells. Supershift analysis revealed that the STAT-element binding complex contained the transcription factor Stat3. Binding of Stat3 was inhibited by protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but not by the broad serine/threonine protein kinase inhibitor, H7. However, H7 inhibited CNTF-induced Stat3 transactivation. Using a dominant-negative p21ras construct and a specific inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK; PD098059) we demonstrated that CNTF-induced Stat3 transactivation was independent of the p21ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, while CNTF-induced MAPK activation was p21ras- and MEK-dependent. Taken together, our results demonstrate the activation of the p21ras-MAPK and STAT signal transduction pathways in response to CNTF and LIF in P19 EC cells and reveal that there is no modulating crosstalk between these pathways. Furthermore, our data suggest that CNTF- and LIF-induced Stat3 activation in P19 EC cells involves an H7-sensitive p21ras/MAPK- and Ca(2+)-independent kinase.
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PMID:Cytokine signal transduction in P19 embryonal carcinoma cells: regulation of Stat3-mediated transactivation occurs independently of p21ras-Erk signaling. 1047 31

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) accumulates in virus-infected mammalian cells and signals the activation of host defense pathways of the interferon system. We describe here a novel form of dsRNA-triggered signaling that leads to the stimulation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and the c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) and of their respective activators MKK3/6 and SEK1/MKK4. The dsRNA-dependent signaling to p38 MAPK was largely intact in cells lacking both RNase L and the dsRNA-activated protein kinase (PKR), i. e., the two best-characterized mediators of dsRNA-triggered antiviral responses. In contrast, activation of both MKK4 and JNK by dsRNA was greatly reduced in cells lacking RNase L (or lacking both RNase L and PKR) but was restored in these cells when introduction of dsRNA was followed by inhibition of ongoing protein synthesis or transcription. These results are consistent with the notion that the role of RNase L and PKR in the activation of MKK4 and JNK is the elimination, via inhibition of protein synthesis, of a labile negative regulator(s) of the signaling to JNK acting upstream of SEK1/MKK4. In the course of these studies, we identified a long-sought site of RNase L-mediated cleavage in the 28S rRNA, which could cause inhibition of translation, thus allowing the activation of JNK by dsRNA. We propose that p38 MAPK is a general participant in dsRNA-triggered cellular responses, whereas the activation of JNK might be restricted to cells with reduced rates of protein synthesis. Our studies demonstrate the existence of alternative (RNase L- and PKR-independent) dsRNA-triggered signaling pathways that lead to the stimulation of stress-activated MAPKs. Activation of p38 MAPK (but not of JNK) was demonstrated in mouse fibroblasts in response to infection with encephalomyocarditis virus (ECMV), a picornavirus that replicates through a dsRNA intermediate. Fibroblasts infected with EMCV (or treated with dsRNA) produced interleukin-6, an inflammatory and pyrogenic cytokine, in a p38 MAPK-dependent fashion. These findings suggest that stress-activated MAPKs participate in mediating inflammatory and febrile responses to viral infections.
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PMID:Activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase by double-stranded RNA and encephalomyocarditis virus: involvement of RNase L, protein kinase R, and alternative pathways. 1061 Dec 40

The role of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathways in the interleukin-6 (IL-6)-induced morphological differentiation of PC12-E2 cells was assessed using wild type and dominant negative mutants of Stat1 and Stat3, containing Tyr --> Phe (YF), Ser --> Ala (SA), and the double mutations (DM), respectively. FS3-YF or FS3-DM markedly inhibited the IL-6-induced response, but overexpression of FS3-SA caused only a modest inhibition. Expression of all Stat3 mutants had no effect on NGF-induced neurite outgrowth. Overexpression of wild type Stat1 protein inhibited IL-6 activated DNA binding complexes containing Stat3 homodimers, which may explain the partial negative effect of Stat1 on IL-6-induced neurite outgrowth. Specificity of these STAT constructs was confirmed using luciferase reporter gene assays, which showed that IL-6-activated transcription was blocked by expression of FS3-YF and FS3-DM and that FS1 enhanced the interferon gamma-activated transcription. Thus, in PC12-E2 cells, Stat3 homodimers are preferentially activated by IL-6, indicating a role for Stat3 in the regulation of cellular differentiation. Furthermore, IL-6 induced robust neurite outgrowth in PC12-E2 cells expressing dominant negative forms of RAS or SHC or in cells pretreated with the mitogen-activated protein kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor, PD98059. Thus, activation of the Stat3 signaling pathway, but not RAS/ERK dependent pathways, is essential for differentiation of PC12-E2 cells by IL-6.
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PMID:Activation of the Stat3 signaling pathway is required for differentiation by interleukin-6 in PC12-E2 cells. 1063 20


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