Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: 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)

Raf-1 activation and Bcl-2 hyperphosphorylation following treatment with paclitaxel (Taxol) or other microtubule-active drugs is associated with mitotic arrest. Here we show that microtubule-active drugs do not activate the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in leukemia cells. PD98059, a MEK inhibitor, and SB202190, a p38 MAP kinase inhibitor, do not abrogate Bcl-2 phosphorylation nor apoptosis. Simultaneously with PARP cleavage, paclitaxel induces cleavage of Bcl-2 protein yielding a potentially pro-apoptotic 22 kDa product. In comparison, the stimulation of Raf-1 by phorbol ester (TPA) activates the MAPK pathway, causes MAPK-dependent p21WAF1/CIP1 induction, Rb dephosphorylation and growth arrest without Bcl-2 phosphorylation or apoptosis. Like TPA, cAMP induces p21WAF1/CIP1 but does not cause Bcl-2 phosphorylation. MEKK1 and Ras, upstream activators of JNK and ERK MAPK, also fail to induce Bcl-2 hyperphosphorylation. Although Lck tyrosine kinase has been recently implicated in Raf-1 activation during mitotic arrest, microtubule-active drugs induce Raf-1/Bcl-2 hyperphosphorylation and apoptosis in a Lck-deficient Jurkat cells. Therefore, microtubule-active drugs induce apoptosis which is associated with Raf-1 and Bcl-2 phosphorylation and Bcl-2 cleavage but is independent of the MAPK pathway. In contrast, TPA-activated MAPK pathway causes p21WAF1/CIP1-dependent growth arrest without apoptosis.
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PMID:Mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway is dispensable for microtubule-active drug-induced Raf-1/Bcl-2 phosphorylation and apoptosis in leukemia cells. 1040 Apr 18

There is at present, much optimism about the possibility of finding selective anticancer drugs that will eliminate the cytotoxic side effects associated with conventional cancer chemotherapy. This hope is based on uncovering many novel molecular targets that are 'cancer-specific', which will allow the targeting of cancer cells while normal cells are spared. Thus far, encouraging results have been obtained with several of these novel agents at the preclinical level, and clinical trials have begun. These targets are involved at one level or more in tumor biology, including tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis. Novel targets for which advances are being made include the following: growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases such as the epidermal growth factor receptor and HER-2/neu (proliferation); the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and the basic fibroblast growth factor receptor (angiogenesis); the oncogenic GTP-binding protein Ras (especially agents targeting Ras farnesylation, farnesyltransferase inhibitors) (proliferation); protein kinase C (proliferation and drug resistance); cyclin-dependent kinases (proliferation); and matrix metalloproteinases and angiogenin (angiogenesis and metastasis). Less explored, but potentially useful targets include the receptor tyrosine kinase platelet-derived growth factor receptor, mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade oncogenes such as Raf-1 and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, cell adhesion molecules such as integrins, anti-apoptosis proteins such as Bcl-2, MDM2 and survivin, and the cell life-span target telomerase.
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PMID:Novel anticancer drug discovery. 1041 54

Phosphorylation of the Bcl-2 family protein Bad may represent an important bridge between survival signaling by growth factor receptors and the prevention of apoptosis. Bad phosphorylation was examined following cytokine stimulation, which revealed phosphorylation on a critical residue, serine 112, in a MEK-dependent manner. Furthermore, Bad phosphorylation also increased on several sites distinct from serine 112 but could not be detected on serine 136, previously thought to be a protein kinase B/Akt-targeted residue. Serine 112 phosphorylation was shown to be absolutely required for dissociation of Bad from Bcl-x(L). These results demonstrate for the first time in mammalian cells the involvement of the Ras-MAPK pathway in the phosphorylation of Bad and the regulation of its function.
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PMID:Regulation of bad phosphorylation and association with Bcl-x(L) by the MAPK/Erk kinase. 1052 12

Determinants of differentiation and apoptosis in myelomonocytic leukemia cells (U937) exposed to the novel hybrid polar compound SAHA (suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid) have been examined. In contrast to hexamethylenbisacetamide (HMBA), SAHA-related maturation was limited and accompanied by marked cytoxicity. SAHA-mediated apoptosis occurred within the G0G1 and S phase populations, and was associated with decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, caspase-3 activation, PARP degradation, hypophosphorylation/cleavage of pRB, and down-regulation of c-Myc, c-Myb, and B-Myb. Enforced expression of Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL inhibited SAHA-induced apoptosis, but only modestly potentiated differentiation. While SAHA induced the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21CIP1, antisense ablation of this CDKI increased, rather than decreased, SAHA-related lethality. In contrast, conditional expression of wild-type p53 failed to modify SAHA actions, but markedly potentiated HMBA-induced apoptosis. Finally, SAHA modestly increased expression/activation of the stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK/JNK); moreover, SAHA-related lethality was partially attenuated by a dominant-negative c-Jun mutant protein (TAM67). SAHA did not stimulate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), nor was lethality diminished by the specific MEK/MAPK inhibitor PD98059. These findings indicate that SAHA potently induces apoptosis in human leukemia cells via a pathway that is p53-independent but at least partially regulated by Bcl-2/Bcl-XL, p21CIP1, and the c-Jun/AP-1 signaling cascade.
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PMID:Induction of apoptosis in U937 human leukemia cells by suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) proceeds through pathways that are regulated by Bcl-2/Bcl-XL, c-Jun, and p21CIP1, but independent of p53. 1059 2

Over the past decade, the involvement of tyrosine kinases in signal transduction pathways evoked by cytokines has been intensively investigated. Only relatively recently have the roles of serine/threonine kinases in cytokine-induced signal transduction and anti-apoptotic pathways been examined. Cytokine receptors without intrinsic kinase activity such as interleukin-3 (IL-3), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and the interferons were thought to transmit their regulatory signals primarily by the receptor-associated Jak family of tyrosine kinases. This family of tyrosine kinases activates STAT transcription factors, which subsequently transduced their signals into the nucleus to modulate gene expression. Cytokine receptors with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity such as c-Kit were initially thought to transduce their signals independently of serine/threonine kinase cascades. Recently, both of these types of receptor signaling pathways have been shown to interact with serine/threonine kinase pathways as maximal activation of these tyrosine kinase regulated cascades involve serine/threonine phosphorylation modulated by, for example MAP kinases. A common intermediate pathway initiating from cytokine receptors is the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK (MAPK) cascade, which can result in the phosphorylation and activation of additional downstream kinases and transcription factors such as p90Rsk, CREB, Elk and Egr-1. Serine/threonine phosphorylation is also involved in the regulation of the apoptosis-controlling Bcl-2 protein, as certain phosphorylation events induced by cytokines such as IL-3 are anti-apoptotic, whereas other phosphorylation events triggered by chemotherapeutic drugs such as Paclitaxel are associated with cell death. Serine/threonine phosphorylation is implicated in the etiology of certain human cancers as constitutive serine phosphorylation of STATs 1 and 3 is observed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and can be inhibited by the chemotherapeutic drug fludarabine. Serine/threonine phosphorylation also plays a role in the etiology of immunodeficiencies. Activated STAT5 proteins are detected in reduced levels in lymphocytes recovered from HIV-infected individuals and immunocompromised mice. Serine/threonine phosphorylation may be an important target of certain chemotherapeutic drugs which recognize the activated proteins. This meeting report and mini-review will discuss the interactions of serine/threonine kinases with signal transduction and apoptotic molecules and how some of these pathways can be controlled by chemotherapeutic drugs. Leukemia (2000) 14, 9-21.
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PMID:Serine/threonine phosphorylation in cytokine signal transduction. 1063 71

Cytokine-dependent activation of distinct signaling pathways is a common scheme thought to be required for the subsequent programmation into cell proliferation and survival. The PI 3-kinase/Akt, Ras/MAP kinase, Ras/NFIL3 and JAK/STAT pathways have been shown to participate in cytokine mediated suppression of apoptosis in various cell types. However the relative importance of these signaling pathways seems to depend on the cellular context. In several cases, individual inhibition of each pathway is not sufficient to completely abrogate cytokine mediated cell survival suggesting that cooperation between these pathways is required. Here we showed that individual inhibition of STAT5, PI 3-kinase or MEK activities did not or weakly affected the IL-3 dependent survival of the bone marrow derived Ba/F3 cell line. However, the simultaneous inhibition of STAT5 and PI 3-kinase activities but not that of STAT5 and MEK reduced the IL-3 dependent survival of Ba/F3. Analysis of the expression of the Bcl-2 members indicated that phosphorylation of Bad and Bcl-x expression which are respectively regulated by the PI 3-kinase/Akt pathway and STAT5 probably explain this cooperation. Furthermore, we showed by co-immunoprecipitation studies and pull down experiments with fusion proteins encoding the GST-SH2 domains of p85 that STAT5 in its phosphorylated form interacts with the p85 subunit of the PI 3-kinase. These results indicate that the activations of STAT5 and the PI 3-kinase by IL-3 in Ba/F3 cells are tightly connected and cooperate to mediate IL-3-dependent suppression of apoptosis by modulating Bad phosphorylation and Bcl-x expression.
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PMID:Cooperation between STAT5 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in the IL-3-dependent survival of a bone marrow derived cell line. 1071 4

Motoneurons require neurotrophic factors for their survival and axonal projection during development, as well as nerve regeneration. By using the axotomy-induced neuronal death paradigm and adenovirus-mediated gene transfer, we attempted to gain insight into the functional significances of major growth factor receptor downstream cascades, Ras-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Ras-ERK) pathway and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase-Akt (PI3K-Akt) pathway. After neonatal hypoglossal nerve transection, the constitutively active Akt-overexpressing neurons could survive as well as those overexpressing Bcl-2, whereas the constitutively active ERK kinase (MEK)-overexpressing ones failed to survive. A dominant negative Akt experiment demonstrated that inhibition of Akt pathway hastened axotomy-induced neuronal death in the neonate. In addition, the dominant active Akt-overexpressing adult hypoglossal neurons showed accelerated axonal regeneration after axotomy. These results suggest that Akt plays dual roles in motoneuronal survival and nerve regeneration in vivo and that PI3K-Akt pathway is probably more vital in neuronal survival after injury than Ras-ERK pathway.
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PMID:Akt/protein kinase B prevents injury-induced motoneuron death and accelerates axonal regeneration. 1075 40

Microtubule-damaging agents arrest cells at G(2)/M and induce apoptosis in association with phosphorylation of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L). Because microtubule inhibitors activate JNK, we sought to determine whether JNK was responsible for Bcl-2/Bcl-X(L) phosphorylation in KB-3 cells treated with vinblastine. Two major endogenous forms of JNK, p46(JNK1) and p54(JNK2), were present in KB-3 cells, and both isoforms were activated by vinblastine as determined by Mono Q chromatography. We used antisense oligonucleotides (AS) to specifically inhibit their expression. A combination of AS-JNK1 with AS-JNK2 inhibited by 80% vinblastine-induced phosphorylation of two known JNK substrates, c-Jun and ATF-2. In addition, AS-JNK1/2 inhibited vinblastine-induced phosphorylation of Bcl-2 by 85% and that of Bcl-X(L) by 65%. Stable expression of the JNK scaffold protein JIP-1 blocked vinblastine-induced phosphorylation of c-Jun and ATF-2, but did not affect Bcl-2/Bcl-X(L) phosphorylation, confirming a bifurcation in JNK signaling involving both nuclear and non-nuclear substrates. Vinblastine-induced phosphorylation of Raf-1 was unaffected by AS-JNK1/2 and was associated with loss of activity for MEK substrate in vitro and inactivation of ERK in vivo. These results provide evidence for a direct role of the JNK pathway in apoptotic regulation through Bcl-2/Bcl-X(L) phosphorylation.
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PMID:Vinblastine-induced phosphorylation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL is mediated by JNK and occurs in parallel with inactivation of the Raf-1/MEK/ERK cascade. 1091 35

A number of oncogenes alter the regulation of the cell cycle and cell death, contributing to the altered growth of tumours. Expression of the v-Src oncoprotein in Rat-1 fibroblasts prevented cell cycle exit in response to growth factor withdrawal. Here we investigated whether survival of v-Src transformed cells in low serum is dependent on v-Src activity. We used a temperature sensitive v-Src to study the effect inactivating v-Src on transformed cells growing under low serum conditions. We found when we switched off v-Src the cells died by apoptosis characterised by activation of caspases and the stress-activated kinases, JNK (Jun N-terminal kinase) and p38 MAP (mitogen activated protein) kinase. We were able to prevent cell death by addition of serum or overexpression of Bcl-2. Thus v-Src transformed Rat-1 cells can be protected from apoptosis by serum, v-Src, or Bcl-2. We investigated how v-Src protects from apoptosis under these conditions. Amongst other effects, v-Src activates two kinases which have been shown to protect cells from apoptosis, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2). We found that switching off v-Src led to a decrease in the activity of both PI3-K and ERK1/2, however, we found that adding a specific inhibitor of PI3-K (LY294002) to v-Src transformed Rat-1 cells grown in low serum induced apoptosis while a specific ERK kinase (MEK1) inhibitor (PD98059) had no effect. This suggests that v-Src protects from apoptosis under low serum conditions by activating PI3-K.
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PMID:Regulation of both apoptosis and cell survival by the v-Src oncoprotein. 1091 42

Stem cell factor (SCF) has been suggested as essential for optimal production of various hematopoietic lineages mainly because of its apoptosis prevention function when it costimulates with other cytokines. However, the underlying mechanism of this synergism of apoptosis prevention is largely unknown. The present study examined the expression of some Bcl-2 family members, including Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), Mcl-1, and Bax, in response to cytokine stimulation in TF-1 and JYTF-1 cells in which SCF costimulation is differentially required for optimal proliferation. The results revealed that only the expression of Mcl-1 highly correlated with the antiapoptotic activity of interleukin-5 (IL-5) and the synergistic effect of SCF. In TF-1 cells, the defect of IL-5 in apoptosis suppression and Mcl-1 induction was associated with the incapability to highly phosphorylate Janus kinases (JAK1, JAK2), signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 (STAT5), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and Akt/PKB, whereas SCF costimulation restored the potent phosphorylation of MAPK and Akt/PKB, but not STAT5. The importance of MAPK and Akt/PKB signaling pathways in regulating the expression of Mcl-1 and cell survival was further supported by the observation that inhibition of MEK by PD98059 or phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI-3K) by LY294002 independently resulted in the reduction of Mcl-1 expression and loss of cell viability. Therefore, the data suggest that Mcl-1 is a common antiapoptotic target of both early-stage cytokine SCF and late-stage cytokine IL-5. Both MEK/MAPK and PI-3K/Akt signaling pathways are essential in the regulation of Mcl-1 expression and apoptosis prevention. (Blood. 2000;96:1764-1771)
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PMID:Mcl-1 is a common target of stem cell factor and interleukin-5 for apoptosis prevention activity via MEK/MAPK and PI-3K/Akt pathways. 1096 75


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