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Query: UNIPROT:P05412 (c-Jun)
 11,453 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Certain small GTP-binding proteins control the enzymatic activity of a family of closely related serine-threonine kinases known as mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). In turn, these MAPKs, such as p44(mapk) and p42(mapk), referred to herein as MAPKs, and stress-activated protein kinases, also termed c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), phosphorylate and regulate the activity of key molecules that ultimately control the expression of genes essential for many cellular processes. Whereas Ras controls the activation of MAPK, we and others have recently observed that two members of the Rho family of small GTP-binding proteins, Rac1 and Cdc42, regulate the activity of JNKs. The identity of molecules communicating Rac1 and Cdc42 to JNK is still poorly understood. It has been suggested that Pak1 is the most upstream kinase connecting these GTPases to JNK; however, we have observed that coexpression of Pak1 with activated forms of Cdc42 or Rac1 diminishes rather than enhances JNK activation. This prompted us to explore the possibility that kinases other than Pak might participate in signaling from GTP-binding proteins to JNK. In this regard, a computer-assisted search for proteins containing areas of homology to that in Pak1 that is involved in binding to Rac1 and Cdc42 led to the identification of mixed lineage kinase 3 (MLK3), also known as protein-tyrosine kinase 1, as a potential candidate for this function. In this study, we found that MLK3 overexpression is sufficient to activate JNK potently without affecting the phosphorylating activity of MAPK or p38. Furthermore, we present evidence that MLK3 binds the GTP-binding proteins Cdc42 and Rac1 in vivo and that MLK3 mediates activation of MEKK-SEK-JNK kinase cascade by Rac1 and Cdc42. Taken together, these findings strongly suggest that members of the novel MLK family of highly related kinases link small GTP-binding proteins to the JNK signaling pathway.
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PMID:Signaling from the small GTP-binding proteins Rac1 and Cdc42 to the c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase pathway. A role for mixed lineage kinase 3/protein-tyrosine kinase 1, a novel member of the mixed lineage kinase family. 891 Feb 92

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases are proline-directed serine/threonine kinases that are activated by dual phosphorylation on threonine and tyrosine residues in response to a wide array of extracellular stimuli. Three distinct groups of MAP kinases have been identified in mammalian cells [extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38]. These MAP kinases are mediators of signal transduction from the cell surface to the nucleus. One nuclear target of these MAP kinase signaling pathways is the transcription factor AP-1. MAP kinases regulate AP-1 transcriptional activity by multiple mechanisms. Here we review recent progress towards understanding AP-1 regulation by the ERK, JNK, and p38 MAP kinase signal transduction pathways.
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PMID:Transcription factor AP-1 regulation by mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction pathways. 891 80

Structurally related serine/threonine kinases recognize similar phosphoacceptor peptides in vitro yet in vivo, they phosphorylate distinct substrates. To understand the basis for this specificity, we studied the interaction between the Jun kinases (JNKs) and Jun proteins. JNKs phosphorylate c-Jun very efficiently, JunD less efficiently, but they do not phosphorylate JunB. Effective JNK substrates require a separate docking site and specificity-conferring residues flanking the phosphoacceptor. The docking site increases the efficiency and specificity of the phosphorylation reaction. JunB has a functional JNK docking site but lacks specificity-conferring residues. Insertion of such residues brings JunB under JNK control. JunD, by contrast, lacks a JNK docking site, but its phosphoacceptor peptide is identical to that of c-Jun. Substrates such as JunD can be phosphorylated by JNK through heterodimerization with docking competent partners. Therefore, heterodimerization can affect the recognition of transcription factors by signal-regulated protein kinases.
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PMID:c-Jun can recruit JNK to phosphorylate dimerization partners via specific docking interactions. 894 19

The B subunit of cholera toxin, which binds specifically to ganglioside GM1, is mitogenic for quiescent Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. Recently, sphingolipids metabolites, ceramide, sphingosine and sphingosine-1-phosphate, have been implicated as second messengers in cell growth regulation and differentiation. In this paper, we examined the possibility that interaction of the B subunit with membrane GM1 leads to alterations in metabolism of glycosphingolipids and that increased levels of sphingolipids metabolites may mediate the biological effects of the B subunit. While the B subunit did not induce a change in the level of ceramide or sphingosine, the level of sphingosine-1-phosphate was rapidly and transiently increased. The B subunit also transiently activated cytosolic sphingosine kinase activity, which catalyzes the phosphorylation of the primary hydroxyl group of sphingosine to produce sphingosine-1-phosphate. To determine whether the increase in sphingosine-1-phosphate level plays a role in B subunit-induced mitogenicity, we used a competitive inhibitor of sphingosine kinase, D,L-threo-dihydrosphingosine. D,L-thereo-Dihydrosphingosine not only inhibited B subunit-induced DNA synthesis by 26%, it also reduced its ability to stimulate DNA-binding activity of the transcription factor AP-1. This sphingosine kinase inhibitor also inhibited B subunit-induced increases in the activity of cell cycle-regulated, cyclin-dependent serine/threonine kinases, cdk2 and p34cdc2. These findings suggest that sphingosine-1-phosphate may play a role in the signal transduction pathways activated by binding of the B subunit to endogenous ganglioside GM1.
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PMID:Involvement of sphingolipids metabolites in cellular proliferation modulated by ganglioside GM1. 898 Oct 85

The c-Jun N-terminal protein kinases (JNKs), also called stress-activated protein kinases, are members of the growing family of serine/threonine kinases in the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase superfamily. Like other MAP kinases, JNKs are activated via phosphorylation on adjacent threonine and tyrosine residues and can be inactivated by a unique family of dual specificity phosphatases, called MAP kinase phosphatases (MKPs). MKPs are encoded by immediate early genes and induced in response to environmental stressors and growth factor stimulation. Two prevalent isoforms of MKP, MKP1 and MKP2, are co-expressed in a wide variety of cell types. In this study, we examined the actions of MKP1 and MKP2 on JNK1 and JNK2. JNK1 phosphorylation and activation was inhibited by expression of both MKP1 and MKP2, although MKP1 selectivity toward JNK1 appeared significantly higher than that of MKP2. In contrast, JNK2 activity was inhibited by either phosphatase to similar degrees. Both MKP1 and MKP2 were highly effective at blocking the activation of the physiological target of JNK activation, the transcription factor c-Jun. In PC12 cells, MKP1 and MKP2 are transcriptionally induced following stimulation by nerve growth factor. In these cells, UV light-evoked JNK activation was reduced by pretreatment with nerve growth factor. Therefore, JNKs may be selective targets of MKP action in certain cells.
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PMID:Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatases inactivate stress-activated protein kinase pathways in vivo. 902 Jan 84

Invasive and metastatic cells require protease expression for migration through the extracellular matrix. Metastatic NIH 3T3 fibroblasts transformed by different activated ras genes showed two different protease phenotypes, rasuPA+/CL- and rasCL+/uPA- (Zhang, J-Y., and Schultz, R. M. (1992) Cancer Research 52, 6682-6689). Phenotype rasuPA+/CL- is dependent on expression of the serine-type protease urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and the phenotype rasCL+/uPA- on the cystine-type protease cathepsin L (CL) for lung colonization in experimental metastasis. The existence of multiple invasive phenotypes on ras-isoform transformation implied the activation of alternative pathways downstream from Ras. We now show that c-Raf-1, extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK)-1, and ERK-2 are hyperphosphorylated, and the ERK activity is high in both the uPA- and CL-dependent ras-transformed invasive phenotypes. Levels of c-Jun and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) activity are also high in the uPA-dependent phenotype, but they are almost undetectable in the CL-dependent phenotype. The uPA Ras-response element is a PEA3/URTF element, and mobility shift assays show a strong PEA3/URTF protein band in the uPA-dependent phenotype. This band is competed by a consensus AP-1 DNA sequence and by antibodies to PEA3 and c-Jun. Thus, the uPA-invasive phenotype appears to require the activation of Ets/PEA3 and c-Jun transcription factors activated by the ERK and JNK pathways, while the CL-invasive phenotype appears to require ERK activity with suppression of JNK and c-Jun activities. These postulates are supported by the introduction of a dominant negative c-Jun, TAM67, into cells of phenotype rasuPA+/CL-, which down-regulated the high uPA mRNA levels characteristic of this phenotype to basal levels and up-regulated basal levels of CL mRNA to levels similar to those observed in cells of phenotype rasCL+/uPA-. We conclude that the JNK pathway acts as a switch between two distinct protease phenotypes that are redundant in their abilities to grow tumors and metastasize.
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PMID:Characterization of downstream Ras signals that induce alternative protease-dependent invasive phenotypes. 903 12

The 78-kDa protein kinase Mekk1 plays an important role in the stress response pathway that involves the activation of downstream kinases Sek1 and stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase. Conserved serine and threonine residues located between the kinase subdomains VII and VIII of many protein kinases are phosphorylated for maximal kinase activation. Two threonine residues within this region in Mekk1 at positions 560 and 572, but not the serine at 557, were shown to be essential for catalytic activity in this study. When these threonine residues were replaced with alanine, there was a significant loss in phosphotransferase activity toward the primary substrate, Sek1, and a large decrease in autophosphorylation activity. Site-directed mutagenesis demonstrated that these threonine residues cannot be replaced with either serine or glutamic acid for preservation of phosphotransferase activity. Further examination of the Mekk1 mutants isolated from 32P-labeled transfected COS cells showed that Thr-560 and Thr-572 were indeed phosphorylated after two-dimensional tryptic-chymotryptic phosphopeptide analysis. Additional determinants in the NH2-terminal domain of Mekk1 also play a role in the regulation of Mekk1 activity. Although Pak3 and PKC can activate Mekk1 in vivo, this interaction is indirect and independent, since there was no direct phosphorylation of Mekk1 by Pak3 or PKC or of Pak3 by PKC, respectively.
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PMID:Identification of two essential phosphorylated threonine residues in the catalytic domain of Mekk1. Indirect activation by Pak3 and protein kinase C. 906 12

The transcription factor AP-1, composed of Fos-Jun dimers, mediates some aspects of the cellular response to growth factors. Transcriptional activation and neoplastic transformation by FosB, a member of the Fos family of proteins, require the presence of a potent C-terminal activation domain. Here we show by mutational analysis that the FosB C-terminal domain has a proline-based motif that is essential for both of these functions. Phosphopeptide mapping experiments show that the C terminus of FosB is phosphorylated within a cluster of functionally redundant serine residues that is adjacent to this proline-based motif. Mutation of these serine residues to alanine severely reduces the ability of this region to function as an activation domain and inhibits the ability of FosB protein to function as a transforming protein. Several observations suggest that the kinase responsible for phosphorylation of these sites is distinct from the mitogen-activation protein kinases and stress-activated protein kinases. Our results show that transcriptional activation and neoplastic transformation by the FosB protein are dependent on phosphorylation within the C terminus. This form of control may provide a potential mechanism of signal integration at the level of a single transcription factor.
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PMID:Transcriptional activation and transformation by FosB protein require phosphorylation of the carboxyl-terminal activation domain. 911 6

The gene GLCLC encodes the catalytic subunit of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (glutamate-cysteine ligase E.C. 6.3.2.2), the rate limiting enzyme for glutathione synthesis. When HepG2 cells were exposed to the serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid (OA), increased expression of GLCLC was observed, as was the development of resistance to xenobiotic induced GSH depletion. Okadaic acid is known to activate both NF-kappaB and AP-1 activity. Inhibition of NF-kappaB activity by overexpression of an IkappaB alpha transdominant inhibitor or exposure to the protease inhibitor TLCK did not inhibit the OA mediated increase in GLCLC transcripts. Fibroblasts derived from a mouse containing a c-Jun null mutation exhibited diminished AP-1 binding activity, reduced levels of GLCLC message, and a correspondingly low GSH concentration compared to wild type cells. When the null cells, which express Jun B and Jun D, were exposed to OA, AP-1 binding activity increased, as did expression of GLCLC message. These results indicate that AP-1 transcription factors participate in the regulation of glutathione metabolism.
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PMID:Expression of glutathione and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase mRNA is Jun dependent. 917 57

c-Jun N-terminal kinases/stress-activated protein kinases (JNKs/SAPKs) are mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-related protein kinases that are involved in several cellular events, including growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. Mixed lineage kinases (MLKs) form a family of protein kinases sharing two leucine zipper-like motifs and a kinase domain whose primary structure is similar to both the tyrosine-specific and the serine/threonine-specific kinase classes. We have reported that a member of the MLK family, MUK/DLK/ZPK, can activate JNK/SAPK in vivo, and here we show that another member of the MLK family, MST/MLK2, activates JNK/SAPK. Both MUK/DLK/ZPK and MST/MLK2 cause a slight activation of p38/Mpk2 when overexpressed in COS-1 cells, whereas MST/MLK2, but not MUK/DLK/ZPK, activates extracellular response kinase (ERK) to a certain degree. The activity of SEK1/MKK4/JNKK, a MAPK kinase class protein kinase designated as a direct activator of JNK/SAPK, is also induced by MUK/DLK/ZPK or MST/MLK2 overexpression. Furthermore, recombinant MST/MLK2 produced in bacteria directly phosphorylates and activates SEK1/MKK4/JNKK in vitro, showing that MST/MLK2 acts like a MAPK kinase kinase. Taken together, these results suggest that MLK family members are MAPK kinase kinases preferentially acting on the JNK/SAPK pathway.
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PMID:MST/MLK2, a member of the mixed lineage kinase family, directly phosphorylates and activates SEK1, an activator of c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase. 918 38


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