Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P05412 (c-Jun)
 11,453 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (u-PAR) facilitates extracellular matrix proteolysis by accelerating plasmin formation at the cell surface. The present study was undertaken to identify elements in the u-PAR promoter required for the elevated expression of this binding site. Toward this end, we used two cultured colon cancer cell lines; one (RKO) has a transcriptionally activated u-PAR gene, and the other (GEO) overexpresses the receptor only after phorbol ester treatment. A chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter driven by 398 nucleotides of 5' regulatory sequence of the u-PAR gene was strongly activated in the RKO cells, which displays approximately 3 x 10(5) receptors/cell. A region of this promoter between -197 and -8 was required for optimal expression, as indicated using a CAT reporter driven by 5' deleted fragments. DNase I footprinting revealed three protected regions (I, -190 to -171; II, -148 to -124; and III, -99 to -70) in this part of the promoter. Mutation of an AP-1 binding site at -184 within region I reduced activation of the promoter by 85%. Deletion of either region II or III also reduced promoter activity by over 60%. An oligonucleotide spanning the AP-1 motif at -184 bound, specifically, nuclear factors from RKO cells, and antibodies specific for Jun-D, c-Jun, or Fra-1 proteins supershifted the complex indicating the presence of these proteins. The amount of these factors was reduced in GEO cells in which the u-PAR gene is only weakly transcriptionally activated. Expression of a vector encoding a wild-type Jun-D cDNA increased u-PAR promoter activity in GEO cells. Conversely, transfection of RKO cells with a transactivation domain-lacking Jun-D expression construct resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in u-PAR promoter activity. Treatment of GEO cells with phorbol ester increased u-PAR mRNA and the activity of a CAT reporter driven by the wild-type but not the AP-1 (-184)-mutated u-PAR promoter, and this was associated with a strong induction in the amount of Jun-D, c-Jun, and c-Fos. Methylation interference studies using a fragment of the u-PAR promoter (spanning -201 to -150) bound with nuclear extracted proteins from RKO cells, and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-treated and -untreated GEO cells showed that the contact points corresponded to the AP-1 binding site at -184. Thus, the elevated expression of u-PAR in RKO cells, which constitutively produces this binding site, as well as in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-stimulated GEO cells requires an AP-1 motif located 184 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site.
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PMID:Requirement of an upstream AP-1 motif for the constitutive and phorbol ester-inducible expression of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor gene. 879 12

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (u-PAR) has been implicated in tumor progression, and previous studies have shown that the expression of this gene is strongly up-regulated by PMA. Although the signaling mechanism by which PMA modulates u-PAR expression is not known, the effect of this phorbol ester on the expression of other genes has been ascribed to activation of the c-Raf-1-ERK signaling pathway. However, in the current study we examined an alternate possibility that the inductive effect of PMA on u-PAR expression also required a JNK1-dependent signaling cascade usually associated with stress-inducing stimuli. PMA treatment of the u-PAR-deficient OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cells, which contain low JNK activities, resulted in a rapid (5 min) increase in JNK activity. Maximal JNK activity (12-fold induction) occurred after 30 min; this preceding the earliest detected rise in u-PAR protein (2 h). Dose-response studies with PMA also indicated that the increased JNK activity was tightly correlated with elevated u-PAR protein levels. The stimulation of u-PAR promoter activity by PMA required an intact upstream AP-1 motif (-184) and in PMA-treated cells this motif was bound with c-Jun as indicated from mobility shift assays. PMA up-regulated the c-Jun trans acting activity as indicated by the higher activity of a GAL4-regulated luciferase reporter in phorbol-ester-treated cells co-transfected with an expression vector encoding the c-Jun transactivation domain fused to the GAL4 DNA-binding domain. The ability of PMA to stimulate u-PAR promoter activity was effectively titrated out by the co-expression of either a kinase-defective JNK1 or a dominant negative MEKK1 the latter being an upstream activator of JNK1. Conversely, u-PAR promoter activity was stimulated by the co-expression of a constitutively active MEKK1 and this induction was antagonized by the inclusion of the kinase-defective JNK1 plasmid. We also determined the biological significance of the JNK1-dependent signaling cascade in regulating u-PAR promoter activity by c-Ha-ras since this oncogene is activated and/or overexpressed in a variety of tumors including ovarian cancer. Transfection of an activated c-Ha-ras into OVCAR-3 cells stimulated u-PAR promoter activity over 20-fold and this could be countered by the individual expression of dominant negative expression constructs to Rac-1, MEKK1 or JNK1. Taken together, these data suggest that the PMA- or c-Ha-Ras-dependent stimulation of u-PAR gene expression requires a JNK1-dependent signaling module and that, at least for PMA, the concurrent stimulation of a JNK1-independent signaling module is also required. Thus, caution should be exercised in invoking linear signaling modules to account for the regulation of inducible gene expression.
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PMID:Stimulation of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor expression by PMA requires JNK1-dependent and -independent signaling modules. 967 6

Tannins are plant-derived water-soluble polyphenols with wide-ranging biological activities. The mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory effect of tannins are not fully understood and may be the result of inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) glycohydrolase (PARG), the main catabolic enzyme of PAR metabolism. Therefore, we set out to investigate the mechanism of the anti-inflammatory effect of gallotannin (GT) in A549 cells with special regard to the role of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation. Using an inflammation-focused low-density array and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, we found that GT suppressed the expression of most cytokines and chemokines in cytokine-stimulated A549 cells, whereas the PARP inhibitor PJ-34 only inhibited few transcripts. Activation of the transcription factors, nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) and activator protein 1 (AP-1), was blocked by GT, whereas PJ-34 only suppressed NF-kappaB activation but not AP-1 activation. GT also inhibited IkappaB phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB, but PJ-34 had no effect on these upstream events. In the AP-1 pathway, GT treatment, even in the absence of cytokines, caused maximal phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and c-Jun. GT also caused a low-level phosphorylation of p38, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2, activating transcription factor2, and cAMP-response element-binding protein but inhibited cytokine-induced phosphorylation of these kinases and transcription factors. GT inhibited protein phosphatases 1 and 2A, which may explain the increased phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase and their substrates. GT exerted potent antioxidant effect but failed to cause PAR accumulation. In summary, the potent inhibitory effects of GT on the transcription of cytokine and chemokine genes are probably not related to PARG inhibition. Inhibition of AP-1 activation and upstream signaling events may be responsible for the effects of GT.
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PMID:Gallotannin inhibits the expression of chemokines and inflammatory cytokines in A549 cells. 1597 37

Activation of both PAR-1 (proteinase-activated receptor-1) and PAR-2 resulted in release of the chemokine GRO (growth-regulated oncogene)/CINC-1 (cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1), a functional counterpart of human interleukin-8, from rat astrocytes. Here, we investigate whether the two PAR receptor subtypes can signal separately. PAR-2-induced GRO/CINC-1 release was independent of protein kinase C, phosphoinositide 3-kinase and MEK (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase)-1/2 activation, whereas these three kinases were involved in PAR-1-induced GRO/CINC-1 release. Despite such clear differences between PAR-1 and PAR-2 signalling pathways, JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) was identified in both signalling pathways to play a pivotal role. By isoform-specific loss-of-function studies using small interfering RNA against JNK1-3, we demonstrate that different JNK isoforms mediated GRO/CINC-1 secretion, when it was induced by either PAR-1 or PAR-2 activation. JNK2 and JNK3 isoforms were both activated by PAR-1 and essential for chemokine GRO/CINC-1 secretion, whereas PAR-1-mediated JNK1 activation was mainly responsible for c-Jun phosphorylation, which was not involved in GRO/CINC-1 release. In contrast, PAR-2-induced JNK1 activation, which failed to phosphorylate c-Jun, uniquely contributed to GRO/CINC-1 release. Therefore our results show for the first time that JNK-mediated chemokine GRO/CINC-1 release occurred in a JNK isoform-dependent fashion and invoked PAR subtype-specific mechanisms. Furthermore, here we demonstrate that activation of PAR-2, as well as PAR-1, rescued astrocytes from ceramide-induced apoptosis via regulating chemokine GRO/CINC-1 release. Taken together, our results suggest that PAR-1 and PAR-2 have overlapping functions, but can activate separate pathways under certain pathological conditions to rescue neural cells from cell death. This provides new functional insights into PAR/JNK signalling and the protective actions of PARs in brain.
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PMID:Proteinase-activated receptor-1 and -2 induce the release of chemokine GRO/CINC-1 from rat astrocytes via differential activation of JNK isoforms, evoking multiple protective pathways in brain. 1694 65

The transcriptionally regulated urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (u-PAR) contributes to cancer progression. Although previous studies have identified multiple 5' regulatory elements, these cis motifs cannot fully account for u-PAR expression prompting a search for hitherto uncharacterized regulatory elements. DNase I hypersensitivity and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays using u-PAR-expressing colon cancer cells indicated a hypersensitive region (+665/+2068) in intron 1 enriched with acetylated histone 3 (H3) and H3 methylated at lysine 4, markers of regulatory regions. The +665/+2068 region increased transcription from a u-PAR-promoter in an orientation- and distance-independent manner fulfilling the criteria of an enhancer. Optimal stimulation of the u-PAR promoter by phorbol ester required this enhancer. Systematic truncations combined with DNase I footprinting revealed two protected regions (+1060/+1099 and +1123/+1134) with deletion of the latter practically abolishing enhancer activity. The +1123/+1134 region harbored non-consensus activator protein-1 and Ets1 binding sites bound with c-Jun (and/or the related JunD/JunB) and c-Fos (and/or the related FosB/Fra-1/Fra-2) as revealed with chromatin immunoprecipitation. Further, nuclear extract from resected colon cancers showed elevated protein binding to a +1123/+1134-spanning probe coordinate with elevated u-PAR protein. Thus, we have defined a novel intragenic enhancer in the u-PAR gene required for constitutive and inducible expression.
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PMID:Identification of an histone H3 acetylated/K4-methylated-bound intragenic enhancer regulatory for urokinase receptor expression. 1700 7

The urokinase receptor [urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (u-PAR)] promotes invasion and metastasis and is associated with poor patient survival. Recently, it was shown that Src induces u-PAR gene expression via Sp1 bound to the u-PAR promoter region -152/-135. However, u-PAR is regulated by diverse promoter motifs, among them being an essential activator protein-1 (AP-1) motif at -190/-171. Moreover, an in vivo relevance of Src-induced transcriptional regulators of u-PAR-mediated invasion, in particular intravasation, and a relevance in resected patient tumors have not sufficiently been shown. The present study was conducted (a) to investigate if, in particular, AP-1-related transcriptional mediators are required for Src-induced u-PAR-gene expression, (b) to show in vivo relevance of AP-1-mediated Src-induced u-PAR gene expression for invasion/intravasation and for resected tissues from colorectal cancer patients. Src stimulation of the u-PAR promoter deleted for AP-1 region -190/-171 was reduced as compared with the wild-type promoter in cultured colon cancer cells. In gelshifts/chromatin immunoprecipitation, Src-transfected SW480 cells showed an increase of phospho-c-Jun, in addition to JunD and Fra-1, bound to region -190/-171. Src-transfected cells showed a significant increase in c-Jun phosphorylated at Ser(73) and also Ser(63), which was paralleled by increased phospho-c-jun-NH(2)-kinase. Significant decreases of invasion/in vivo intravasation (chorionallantoic membrane model) were observed in Src-overexpressing cells treated with Src inhibitors, u-PAR-small interfering RNA, and dominant negative c-Jun (TAM67). In resected tissues of 20 colorectal cancer patients, a significant correlation between Src activity, AP-1 complexes bound to u-PAR region -190/-171, and advanced pN stage were observed. These data suggest that Src-induced u-PAR gene expression and invasion/intravasation in vivo is also mediated via AP-1 region -190/-171, especially bound with c-Jun phosphorylated at Ser(73/63), and that this pathway is biologically relevant for colorectal cancer patients, suggesting therapeutic potential.
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PMID:Src induces urokinase receptor gene expression and invasion/intravasation via activator protein-1/p-c-Jun in colorectal cancer. 1751 Mar 14

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) has been proposed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of heart ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, the mechanisms of PARP-mediated heart I/R injury in vivo are still not thoroughly understood. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the effect of PARP inhibition on heart I/R injury and try to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Studies were performed with I/R rats' hearts in vivo. Ischaemia followed by reperfusion caused a significant increase in Poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) activity. Administration of 3,4-dihydro-5-[4-(1-piperidinyl)butoxy]-1(2H)-isoquinolinone (DPQ), an inhibitor of PARP, decreased myocardial infarction size from 61.11+/-7.46%[0] to 38.83+/-5.67% (P<0.05) and cells apoptosis from 35+/-5.3% to 20+/-4.1% (P<0.05) and simultaneously improved the cardiac function. Western blot analysis showed that administration of DPQ reduced the activation of JNK and attenuated mitochondrial-nuclear translocation of AIF. Additionally, administration of SP600125, an inhibitor of JNK, attenuated mitochondrial-nuclear translocation of AIF. The results of the present study demonstrated that the inhibition of PARP was able to reduce heart I/R injury in vivo. Our results also suggested that JNK may be downstream of PARP activation and be required for PARP-mediated AIF translocation. Inhibition of the activity of PARP may reduce heart I/R injury via suppressing AIF translocation mediated by JNK.
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PMID:Inhibition of the activity of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase reduces heart ischaemia/reperfusion injury via suppressing JNK-mediated AIF translocation. 1878 86

Cetuximab, which blocks ligand binding to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), is currently being studied as a novel treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, its mechanisms of action toward metastasis, and markers of drug sensitivity, have not been fully elucidated. This study was conducted to (a) determine the effect of Cetuximab on invasion and NSCLC-metastasis; (b) investigate urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (u-PAR), a major molecule promoting invasion and metastasis, as a target molecule; (c) delineate molecular mediators of Cetuximab-induced metastasis inhibition; and (d) identify biomarkers of drug sensitivity in NSCLC. Cetuximab treatment resulted in reduced growth and Matrigel invasion of H1395 and A549 NSCLC cell lines, in parallel with reduced u-PAR mRNA and protein. u-PAR down-regulation was brought about by suppressing the binding of JunD and c-Jun to u-PAR promoter motif -190/-171 in vivo, and an inhibition of MAP/ERK kinase signaling. Furthermore, Cetuximab inhibited NSCLC proliferation and metastasis to distant organs in vivo as indicated by the chicken embryo metastasis assay. Low E-cadherin and high u-PAR, but not EGFR, was associated with resistance to Cetuximab in seven NSCLC cell lines. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of u-PAR led to a resensitization to Cetuximab. Moreover, low E-cadherin and high u-PAR was found in 63% of resected tumor tissues of NSCLC patients progressing under Cetuximab therapy. This is the first study to show u-PAR as a target and marker of sensitivity to Cetuximab, and to delineate novel mechanisms leading to metastasis suppression of NSCLC by Cetuximab.
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PMID:Cetuximab attenuates metastasis and u-PAR expression in non-small cell lung cancer: u-PAR and E-cadherin are novel biomarkers of cetuximab sensitivity. 1927 67

Skeletal muscle differentiation is controlled by multiple cell signaling pathways, however, the JNK/MAPK signaling pathway dominating this process has not been fully elucidated. Here, we report that the JNK/MAPK pathway was significantly downregulated in the late stages of myogenesis, and in contrast to P38/MAPK pathway, it negatively regulated skeletal muscle differentiation. Based on the PAR-CLIP-seq analysis, we identified six elevated miRNAs (miR-1a-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-133b-3p, miR-206-3p, miR-128-3p, miR-351-5p), namely myogenesis-associated miRNAs (mamiRs), negatively controlled the JNK/MAPK pathway by repressing multiple factors for the phosphorylation of the JNK/MAPK pathway, including MEKK1, MEKK2, MKK7, and c-Jun but not JNK protein itself, and as a result, expression of transcriptional factor MyoD and mamiRs were further promoted. Our study revealed a novel double-negative feedback regulatory pattern of cell-specific miRNAs by targeting phosphorylation kinase signaling cascade responsible for skeletal muscle development.
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PMID:Inhibition of the JNK/MAPK signaling pathway by myogenesis-associated miRNAs is required for skeletal muscle development. 2944 44