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

The c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase isoform (JNK) 1 is implicated in type 2 diabetes. However, a potential role for the JNK2 protein kinase in diabetes has not been established. Here, we demonstrate that JNK2 may play an important role in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes that is caused by autoimmune destruction of beta cells. Studies of nonobese diabetic mice demonstrated that disruption of the Mapk9 gene (which encodes the JNK2 protein kinase) decreased destructive insulitis and reduced disease progression to diabetes. CD4(+) T cells from JNK2-deficient nonobese diabetic mice produced less IFN-gamma but significantly increased amounts of IL-4 and IL-5, indicating polarization toward the Th2 phenotype. This role of JNK2 to control the Th1/Th2 balance of the immune response represents a mechanism of protection against autoimmune diabetes. We conclude that JNK protein kinases may have important roles in diabetes, including functions of JNK1 in type 2 diabetes and JNK2 in type 1 diabetes.
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PMID:Disruption of the Jnk2 (Mapk9) gene reduces destructive insulitis and diabetes in a mouse model of type I diabetes. 1586 47

Previously, we reported that mitogenicity in L6 muscle cells was stimulated by insulin but inhibited by reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS; []) and that preincubation with sodium ascorbate (ASC) protected from either the impaired DNA synthesis and/or loss of cell viability. Now, we addressed the question how ascorbate (AA) rescued DNA synthesis in L6 muscle cells being challenged with ROS/RNS. We assumed that AA might be able to influence insulin signaling. We found that insulin elevated the protein levels of both PKB/Akt kinase phosphorylated at Serine(473) (pS473-Akt), and c-Jun phosphorylated at Serine63, Serine73 (pS63, pS73-c-Jun) residues, respectively. A short-term treatment experiment (0 - 45 min) revealed that either insulin (0.1 muM) or hydrogen peroxide (0.1, 0.5 mM; H2O2) increased the pS473-Akt and pS63, pS73-c-Jun protein levels, although the effect of ROS/RNS peaked earlier (5 min) than that of insulin (45 min). Astonishingly, the elevated levels of both pS473-Akt and pS63, pS73-c-Jun in response to insulin were reduced by the concomitant treatment with H2O2 in a dose-dependent fashion. In contrast, a 4-hour preincubation with ASC (1 mM) augmented the signal from pS473-Akt and pS63, pS73-c-Jun, when both insulin and H2O2 were added. Moreover, a 24 h preincubation with ASC also elevated the pS473-Akt and pS63, pS73-c-Jun levels in response to insulin irrespective to ROS/RNS co-treatment. During chronic treatment studies, ROS/RNS stimulated neither phosphorylation of Akt nor c-Jun, indicating that ROS/RNS-dependent activation of the above-mentioned proteins was short-term and transient. Furthermore, higher levels of pS473 Akt and pS63, pS73-c-Jun after preincubation with ASC suggest that by this route AA could protect insulin-induced mitogenicity. Basal levels of Akt and its target p70(S6K) remained constant regardless of treatment. These results suggest that AA defends the insulin-stimulated mitogenicity hampered by ROS/RNS most likely by the amplification of insulin signal at the level of pS473-Akt and pS63, pS73-c-Jun, respectively.
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PMID:Preincubation with sodium ascorbate potentiates insulin-dependent PKB/Akt and c-Jun phosphorylation in L6 rat myoblasts challenged with reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. 1590 68

Elevated circulating fatty acid concentration is a hallmark of insulin resistance and is at least in part attributed to the action of adipose tissue-derived tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on lipolysis. Cell death-inducing DFFA (DNA fragmentation factor-alpha)-like effector A (CIDEA) belongs to a family of proapoptotic proteins that has five known members in humans and mice. The action of CIDEA is unknown, but CIDEA-null mice are resistant to obesity and diabetes. We investigated CIDEA in adipose tissue of obese and lean humans and mice. The mRNA was expressed in white human fat cells and in brown mouse adipocytes. The adipose mRNA expression of CIDEA in mice was not influenced by obesity. However, CIDEA expression was decreased twofold in obese humans and normalized after weight reduction. Low adipose CIDEA expression was associated with several features of the metabolic syndrome. Human adipocyte depletion of CIDEA by RNA interference stimulated lipolysis and increased TNF-alpha secretion by a posttranscriptional effect. Conversely, TNF-alpha treatment decreased adipocyte CIDEA expression via the mitogen-activated protein kinase c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase. We propose an important and human-specific role for CIDEA in lipolysis regulation and metabolic complications of obesity, which is at least in part mediated by cross-talk between CIDEA and TNF-alpha.
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PMID:A human-specific role of cell death-inducing DFFA (DNA fragmentation factor-alpha)-like effector A (CIDEA) in adipocyte lipolysis and obesity. 1591 94

Fibroin has been shown to enhance insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and the mechanism underlying the fibroin effect focused on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-K) pathway has been reported. In the present study, for defining the insulin-sensitizing effects of fibroin synthetically, we have used the Hirc-B cells which are rat fibroblasts over-expressing wild-type human insulin receptors to investigate the insulin-stimulation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signaling cascades. Cultivation of Hirc-B cells in high-glucose medium for 6 days led to an insulin-resistant state in which insulin-stimulated DNA synthesis was blocked completely. Chronic exposure to fibroin for 16 h markedly recovered DNA synthesis in insulin-resistant cells. Development of insulin resistance caused a reduction of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation, which was also recovered by fibroin exposure. Fibroin sensitized the insulin-stimulated c-Jun accumulation and phosphorylation in insulin-resistant cells. In the time course for c-Jun accumulation, fibroin had a vanadate-like effect. Further, fibroin was shown to delay the degradation of c-Jun. It is suggested that fibroin may sensitize insulin action by blocking JNK dephosphorylation caused by MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1).
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PMID:Insulin sensitization of MAP kinase signaling by fibroin in insulin-resistant Hirc-B cells. 1597 22

Although application of the Edmonton protocol has markedly improved outcomes for pancreatic islet transplantation, the insulin independence rate after islet transplantation from one donor pancreas has proven to remain low. During the isolation process and subsequent clinical transplantation, islets are subjected to severe adverse conditions that impair survival and ultimately contribute to graft failure. Pancreas preservation with the two-layer method (TLM) has proven to improve transplant results by protecting isolated islets against apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. However, pancreas storage with TLM cannot protect against activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) in isolated islets. This study investigated whether delivery of a JNK inhibitory peptide (JNKI) via the protein transduction system can prevent apoptosis of islet cells immediately after isolation. For efficient delivery of the (JNKI into isolated islets, we synthesized JNKI as a C-terminal fusion peptide with the 11-arginine protein transduction domain (11R-JNKI). 11R efficiently delivered the JNKI into isolated islets and 11R-JNKI prevented islet apoptosis immediately after isolation and improved islet graft function. These findings suggest that peptide drugs could be useful for the prevention of the impairment of islet cells and lead to improvement in the outcomes for pancreatic islet transplantation.
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PMID:Cell permeable peptide of JNK inhibitor prevents islet apoptosis immediately after isolation and improves islet graft function. 1599 31

Current studies demonstrated that cell survival is determined by a balance among signaling cascades, including those that recruit the Akt and JNK pathways. In our present work, the relationship between Akt1 and JNK1/2 was evaluated after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in the hippocampus in a four-vessel occlusion model of Sprague-Dawley rats. This paper was based on our present and previous studies. Firstly, Akt1 had one active peak during reperfusion following 15 min ischemia. Secondly, two peaks of JNK1/2 activation occurred during reperfusion, respectively. Thirdly, the phosphorylation of JNK substrates c-Jun and Bcl-2, and the activation of a key protease of caspase-3 were detected. They only had one active peak, respectively, during reperfusion. To clarify the mechanism of Akt1 activation and further define whether JNK1/2 activation could be regulated by Akt1 through PI3K pathway, LY294002 and insulin were, respectively, administrated to the rats prior to ischemia. Our research indicated that LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, significantly suppressed Akt1 activation. Furthermore, LY294002 significantly strengthened both peaks of JNK1/2 activation, c-Jun activation, Bcl-2 phosphorylation, and the activation of caspase-3 during reperfusion. In contrast, insulin, a PI3K agonist, not only obviously activated Akt1 during early and later reperfusion, but also inhibited phosphorylation of JNK1/2, c-Jun, and Bcl-2 and attenuated the activation of caspase-3. In addition, pretreatment of insulin significantly increased the number of the surviving CA1 pyramidal cells at 5 days of reperfusion. Consequently, our results indicated that the cross-talk between Akt1 and JNK1/2 could be mediated by insulin receptor through PI3K in rat hippocampus during reperfusion. This signaling pathway might play a neuroprotective role against ischemic insults via inhibition of the JNK pathway, involving the death effector of caspase-3.
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PMID:The neuroprotection of insulin on ischemic brain injury in rat hippocampus through negative regulation of JNK signaling pathway by PI3K/Akt activation. 1601 89

The c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) were originally identified by their ability to phosphorylate c-Jun in response to UV-irradiation, but now are recognized as critical regulators of various aspects of mammalian physiology, including: cell proliferation, cell survival, cell death, DNA repair and metabolism. JNK-mediated phosphorylation enhances the ability of c-Jun, a component of the AP-1 transcription factor, to activate transcription, in response to a plethora of extracellular stimuli. The JNK activation leads to induction of AP-1-dependent target genes involved in cell proliferation, cell death, inflammation, and DNA repair. The JNKs, which are encoded by three different Jnk loci, are now known to be regulated by many other stimuli, from pro-inflammatory cytokines to obesity, in addition to UV-irradiation. Targeted disruption of the Jnk loci in mice has proved to be a critical tool in better understanding their physiological functions. Such studies revealed that the JNKs play important roles in numerous cellular processes, including: programmed cell death, T cell differentiation, negative regulation of insulin signaling, control of fat deposition, and epithelial sheet migration. Importantly, the JNKs have become prime targets for drug development in several important clinical areas, including: inflammation, diabetes, and cancer.
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PMID:From JNK to pay dirt: jun kinases, their biochemistry, physiology and clinical importance. 1603 12

The c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), which are essential regulators of physiological and pathological processes, are involved in several diseases including diabetes, atherosclerosis, stroke, and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Inhibition of JNKs suppresses pathological features of these diseases but the many physiological functions of these enzymes argue against the use of sustained, systemic, nonspecific inhibition in the treatment of these diseases. For example, deletion of the gene that encodes JNK1 prevents insulin resistance but disrupts neuronal cytoarchitecture and initiates the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Thus, it is not sufficient to inhibit selectively either JNKs or individual isoforms of JNK. Instead, the aim is to inhibit the damaging actions of JNK. This can be achieved using peptides that selectively block molecular domains of individual JNK signaling complexes (exclusively) that form under pathological conditions. To date, peptide inhibitors of JNK have been successful in protecting against ischemia-induced brain damage and insulin resistance following obesity. In this review, we discuss novel pharmacological strategies to inhibit JNK and the limitations of these strategies.
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PMID:Context-specific inhibition of JNKs: overcoming the dilemma of protection and damage. 1605 42

The function of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), a key molecule of insulin signaling, is modulated by phosphorylation at multiple serine/threonine residues. Phorbol ester stimulation of cells induces phosphorylation of two inhibitory serine residues in IRS-1, i.e. Ser-307 and Ser-318, suggesting that both sites may be targets of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms. However, in an in vitro system using a broad spectrum of PKC isoforms (alpha, beta1, beta2, delta, epsilon, eta, mu), we detected only Ser-318, but not Ser-307 phosphorylation, suggesting that phorbol ester-induced phosphorylation of this site in intact cells requires additional signaling elements and serine kinases that link PKC activation to Ser-307 phosphorylation. As we have observed recently that the tyrosine phosphatase Shp2, a negative regulator of insulin signaling, is a substrate of PKC, we studied the role of Shp2 in this context. We found that phorbol ester-induced Ser-307 phosphorylation is reduced markedly in Shp2-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (Shp2-/-) whereas Ser-318 phosphorylation is unaltered. The Ser-307 phosphorylation was rescued by transfection of mouse embryonic fibroblasts with wild-type Shp2 or with a phosphatase-inactive Shp2 mutant, respectively. In this cell model, tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced Ser-307 phosphorylation as well depended on the presence of Shp2. Furthermore, Shp2-dependent phorbol ester effects on Ser-307 were blocked by wortmannin, rapamycin, and the c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor SP600125. This suggests an involvement of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin cascade and of JNK in this signaling pathway resulting in IRS-1 Ser-307 phosphorylation. Because the activation of these kinases does not depend on Shp2, it is concluded that the function of Shp2 is to direct these activated kinases to IRS-1.
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PMID:Shp2 is required for protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation of serine 307 in insulin receptor substrate-1. 1605 40

Increased activity of proinflammatory/stress pathways has been implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in obesity. However, the effects of obesity on the activity of these pathways in skeletal muscle, the major insulin-sensitive tissue by mass, are poorly understood. Furthermore, the mechanisms that activate proinflammatory/stress pathways in obesity are unknown. The present study addressed the effects of diet-induced obesity (DIO; 6 wk of high-fat feeding) and acute (6-h) hyperlipidemia (HL) in rats on activity of IKK/IkappaB/NF-kappaB c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase, and p38 MAPK in three skeletal muscles differing in fiber type [superficial vastus (Vas; fast twitch-glycolytic), soleus (Sol; slow twitch-oxidative), and gastrocnemius (Gas; mixed)]. DIO decreased the levels of the IkappaBalpha in Vas (24 +/- 3%, P = 0.001, n = 8) but not in Sol or Gas compared with standard chow-fed controls. Similar to DIO, HL decreased IkappaBalpha levels in Vas (26 +/- 5%, P = 0.006, n = 6) and in Gas (15 +/- 4%, P = 0.01, n = 7) but not in Sol compared with saline-infused controls. Importantly, the fiber-type-dependent effects on IkappaBalpha levels could not be explained by differential accumulation of triglyceride in Sol and Vas. HL, but not DIO, decreased phospho-p38 MAPK levels in Vas (41 +/- 7% P = 0.004, n = 6) but not in Sol or Gas. Finally, skeletal muscle c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase activity was unchanged by DIO or HL. We conclude that diet-induced obesity and acute HL reduce IkappaBalpha levels in rat skeletal muscle in a fiber-type-dependent manner.
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PMID:Diet-induced obesity and acute hyperlipidemia reduce IkappaBalpha levels in rat skeletal muscle in a fiber-type dependent manner. 1608 81


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