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)

Mechanical stretch has been implicated in phenotypic changes as an adaptive response to stretch stress physically loaded in bladder smooth muscle cells (BSMCs). To investigate stretch-induced signaling, we examined the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family using rat primary BSMCs. When BSMCs were subjected to sustained mechanical stretch using collagen-coated silicon membranes, activation of c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) was most relevant among three subsets of MAPK family members: the activity was elevated from 5 min after stretch and peaked at 10 min with an 11-fold increase. Activation of p38 was weak compared with that of JNK, and ERK was not activated at all. JNK activation by mechanical stretch was totally dependent on extracellular Ca(2+) and inhibited by Gd(3+), a blocker of stretch-activated (SA) ion channels. Nifedipine and verapamil, inhibitors for voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels, had no effect on this JNK activation. Moreover, none of the inhibitors pertussis toxin, genistein, wortmannin, or calphostin C affected stretch-induced JNK activation, indicating that G protein-coupled and tyrosine kinase receptors are unlikely to be involved in this JNK activation. On the other hand, W-7, a calmodulin inhibitor, and cyclosporin A, a calcineurin inhibitor, prevented JNK activation by stretch. These results suggest a novel pathway for stretch-induced activation of JNK in BSMCs: mechanical stretch evokes Ca(2+) influx via Gd(3+)-sensitive SA Ca(2+) channels, resulting in JNK activation under regulation in part by calmodulin and calcineurin.
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PMID:Essential role for extracellular Ca(2+) in JNK activation by mechanical stretch in bladder smooth muscle cells. 1154 52

Although recent results suggest that GluR6 serine phosphorylation plays a prominent role in brain ischemia/reperfusion-mediated neuronal injury, little is known about the precise mechanisms regulating GluR6 receptor phosphorylation. Our present study shows that the assembly of the GluR6-PSD95-CaMKII signaling module induced by brain ischemia facilitates the serine phosphorylation of GluR6 and further induces the activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase JNK. More important, a selective CaMKII inhibitor KN-93 suppressed the increase of the GluR6-PSD95-CaMKII signaling module assembly and GluR6 serine phosphorylation as well as JNK activation. Such effects were similar to be observed by NMDA receptor antagonist MK801 and L-type Ca(2+) channel (L-VGCC) blocker Nifedipine. These results demonstrate that NMDA receptors and L-VGCCs depended-CaMKII functionally modulated the phosphorylation of GluR6 via the assembly of GluR6-PSD95-CaMKII signaling module in cerebral ischemia injury.
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PMID:Calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II facilitated GluR6 subunit serine phosphorylation through GluR6-PSD95-CaMKII signaling module assembly in cerebral ischemia injury. 2088 27

Nifedipine, a classic L-type dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (CCB), has been reported to possess multiple cardioprotective properties. However, little is known about the effects of nifedipine on cardiac fibrosis induced by angiotensinII (AngII) and the detailed molecular mechanisms. In this study, we found that nifedipine attenuated AngII-induced cardiac fibrosis in vitro via inhibiting the proliferation, differentiation of cardiac fibroblasts and antagonizing the upregulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein fibronectin (FN) and the pro-fibrotic cytokine connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). Furthermore, nifedipine suppressed the upregulation of NAD(P)H oxidase 4 (Nox4) and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by AngII. In addition, it markedly inhibited the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulate kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) stimulated by AngII. However, nifedipine exhibited no effect on the variation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). These results suggested that (1) nifedipine inhibited cardiac fibrosis induced by AngII; (2) the anti-fibrotic effects of nifedipine may be mediated by interfering with the production of ROS and the activation of ERK1/2 and JNK signaling pathways; (3) the classic calcium channel blocking action of nifedipine may not be involved in the anti-fibrotic activities.
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PMID:Nifedipine inhibits angiotensin II-induced cardiac fibrosis via downregulating Nox4-derived ROS generation and suppressing ERK1/2, JNK signaling pathways. 2387 51