Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.11.18 (MAP)
 7,412 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have partially purified and characterized two protein kinases that were strongly activated by interleukin-1 (IL-1) or tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in MRC-5 fibroblasts. The kinases were separated by anion exchange chromatography of cytosolic fractions. They phosphorylated in vitro the small heat shock protein (hsp27) or beta-casein and were stimulated 3- and 4.5-fold, respectively, in cells that had been exposed to IL-1 or TNF for 10 min. They were distinct from the mitogen-activated protein kinases, whose activation by IL-1 or TNF has been reported recently. The hsp27 kinase phosphorylated its substrate on serine residues. Its molecular mass was estimated to be 45-kDa by gel filtration. It is probably involved in the increase in hsp27 phosphorylation seen in intact cells. The beta-casein kinase behaved as a 65-kDa protein. It phosphorylated its substrate on serine and threonine residues and had little activity on alpha-casein. The hsp27 and beta-casein kinases were not activated after stimulation of the cells with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). In contrast, the MAP kinases were activated to a similar extent (2-3-fold) by the cytokines and by PMA. The hsp27- and beta-casein kinases probably correspond to novel enzymes whose mechanisms of activation may be independent of protein kinase C or MAP kinases.
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PMID:Interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis factor stimulate two novel protein kinases that phosphorylate the heat shock protein hsp27 and beta-casein. 844 Jul 7

Cripto, also known as human teratocarcinoma-derived growth factor 1 (TDGF-1), contains a 40 amino acid region with some similarity to the epidermal growth factor (EGF) domain. However, sequence homology is largely restricted to the classical cysteine/glycine motif with only limited similarities in other regions. Significant differences to human EGF include the absence of all seven residues between the two N-terminal half-cystines and a five-residue shorter loop between the third and fourth half-cystines. We examine the hypothesis that, in spite of these differences, cripto can adopt the characteristic EGF-like 1-3, 2-4, 5-6 disulfide bond pattern. A comparative structural model of the growth factor cripto was constructed on the basis of its similarity to EGF, transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha), and the EGF-like domain of human clotting factor IX. The predicted disulfide bridges and disulfide-bridged loops were analyzed and appear viable in the modeled structure. Moreover, to ascertain the importance of disulfide arrangement for cripto bioactivity, two 47-residue peptides were synthesized and then refolded using either a simple oxidative or a controlled sequential refolding protocol. The cripto peptides were tested for their ability to stimulate MAP-kinase activity, for inhibition of beta-casein induction, and for Shc phosphorylation in MDA-MB 453 human mammary carcinoma cells and HC-11 mouse mammary epithelial cells. Data suggest that cripto does adopt the 1-3, 2-4, 5-6 disulfide pattern and thus forms the classical EGF-like fold in spite of the significant deletions within the folding domain. The predicted structure of cripto shows some of the characteristics of both the ErbB1- and ErbB3/ErbB4-binding growth factors.
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PMID:Chemical synthesis, structural modeling, and biological activity of the epidermal growth factor-like domain of human cripto. 909 13

Prolactin (PRL) interacts with a specific, well characterized plasma membrane receptor (PRLR) that is coupled to signal transduction pathways involving Jak2, Fyn, and MAP kinases, and signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT). Although a few previous studies have indicated nuclear translocation of PRL in IL-2 stimulated T lymphocytes, PRL-dependent Nb2 lymphoma cell lines and 235-1 lactotrophs, the mechanisms of nuclear targeting remain unknown and conflicting results have been reported concerning the putative nuclear translocation of the PRLR. We therefore decided to investigate nuclear translocation of PRLR and PRL in various cell lines transfected with an expression plasmid encoding PRLR, using confocal laser microscopy. We have constructed various cDNAs of the long and short forms of the rat PRLR containing an oligonucleotide encoding a Flag epitope inserted either just before the N-terminal amino acid or in the C-terminal end of the mature receptor (named N-terminal or C-terminal Flag-tagged PRLR). The corresponding receptors function as the PRLR in transfected cells: they are expressed at the plasma membrane and in compartments of the secretory pathway, they bind PRL with normal affinity (Kd= 4x10(-10) M) and have the same capacity to stimulate the transcriptional activity of a milk protein (beta-casein) gene as wild-type PRLR. In addition, the tagged receptors are much more efficiently immunodetected using anti-Flag antibodies, as compared to anti-PRL antibodies (U5 or U6). Immunofluorescence combined with detailed confocal laser microscopy showed that addition of PRL (0 to 12 hours) to COS-7, CHO and NIH-3T3 transfected fibroblasts induces rapid internalization of the receptor (long form), without any translocation to the nucleus. Using PRL-R tagged both in the N-terminal or C-terminal regions of the mature receptor excludes the possibility of a cleaved fragment which could have been subsequently imported into the nucleus. An absence of nuclear translocation of PRLR was also observed in a 293 cell line stably expressing the receptor, and in physiological targets for PRL, i.e. in Nb2 lymphoma cells expressing the Nb2 form of the receptor or in BGME mammary gland epithelial cells upon overexpression of a Flag-tagged PRLR. Similarly, the short form of the PRLR was not detected in nuclei of transfected COS cells upon PRL treatment. Clearly, our results provide evidence that internalization of the plasma membrane PRLR does not lead to nuclear translocation of the receptor, or part of it, in most fibroblasts and epithelial cells at physiological concentrations of PRL. Also, in co-localization experiments, PRL was internalized without nuclear translocation. Activation of STATs transcription factors and MAP kinases, as well as translocation of these proteins to the nucleus following their phosphorylation, probably remains the intracellular mechanism coupling stimulation to nuclear events.
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PMID:Internalization of prolactin receptor and prolactin in transfected cells does not involve nuclear translocation. 917 8

In vitro development of Korean native goat embryos was investigated in 2 different culture systems with and without goat oviduct epithelial cells (GOEC). Estrus was synchronized by inserting intravaginal progestagen-impnegnated sponge (Veramix) containing 60 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP) for 14 d. Superovulation was induced with follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Goat ova were surgically obtained by retrograde flushing the oviducts of does at 66 to 68 h after MAP removal. Mean number of recovered ova per doe was 7.28 +/- 3.91, and the proportion of fertilized embryos in recovered ova was 66.5% (121/182 ). Fertilized embryos were cultured for 9 d in CR1aa medium supplemented with 10% estrous goat serum (EGS) at 38.5 degrees C, 5% CO(2) in air. There was no difference in development of the embryos to the morula stage between the 2 culture systems (84.4 and 84.0%, respectively). However, developmental rate to blastocysts (65.6%) of the embryos co-cultured with GOEC was significantly higher than of those (12.0%) cultured without GOEC (P < 0.001). Goat zygotes were injected with bovine beta-casein/human lactoferrin cDNA fusion gene (pBL1). When the DNA-injected embryos were co-cultured with GOEC, developmental rates of the embryos to the morula and blastocyst stages were 82.9 and 36.6%, respectively. The results obtained in this study indicate that "blocking" of in vitro development of Korean native goat embryos appears to occur at the morula stage, but can be overcome to some extent by co-culture with GOEC. In the co-culture system, DNA-injected goat embryos could successfully develop to normal hatching blastocysts.
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PMID:In vitro development of DNA-injected embryos co-cultured with goat oviduct epithelial cells in Korean native goats (Capra hircus aegagrus). 1672 61

A fast at-line method was developed for the identification of ACE inhibiting (ACEI) peptides in protein hydrolysates. The method consists of activity measurements of fractions collected from a two-dimensional HPLC fractionation of the peptide mixture followed by MS identification of the peptides in the inhibiting fractions. The inhibition assay is based on the inhibiting effect of ACEI peptides on the hydrolytic scission of the substrate Hippuric acid-His-Leu (HHL) during the ACE-catalysed hydrolysis reaction. A fast LC method was developed for the quantification of Hippuric acid (H) and Hippuric acid-Histidine-Leucine (HHL), allowing a large number of fractions to be analysed within a reasonable time period. The method is sensitive and uses only standard laboratory equipment. The limit of detection is 0.34 microM for the known ACEI peptide IPP. This is sufficiently sensitive for the identification of only moderately active peptides and/or ACEI peptides present at low concentrations. The relative standard deviation of the inhibition assay was 12% measured over a time period of 2 months. The IC50 value of IPP measured with the assay was 5.6 microM, which is comparable to the values of 5 microM and 5.15 microM reported in literature for the standard Matsui method. The assay was successfully applied in the identification of ACEI peptides in enzymatically hydrolysed caseinate samples. Two new, not earlier published ACEI peptides were identified; MAP (beta-casein f102-104) and ITP (alpha-s2-casein f119-121) with IC50 values of 3.8 microM and 50 microM, respectively.
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PMID:Development of an at-line method for the identification of angiotensin-I inhibiting peptides in protein hydrolysates. 1699 10