Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P51812 (mitogen-activated protein)
 10,636 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Thromboxane A2 stimulation of smooth muscle cells contributes to the development of vascular lesions after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. In view of this, we examined the signaling pathways stimulated by a thromboxane receptor agonist, U-46619, in cultures of rat aortic smooth muscle cells. Treatment of rat aortic smooth muscle cells with U-46619 induced cellular hypertrophy ([14C]leucine incorporation) without stimulating mitogenesis ([3H]thymidine incorporation). Analysis of signaling pathways elicited by U-46619 revealed enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation and increased enzymatic activity of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (Erk2). U-46619 also activated signaling proteins upstream of p21-ras, inducing tyrosine phosphorylation on Shc and complex formation between Shc and growth factor receptor binding protein-2 (GRB2). Exposure of cells to a stable prostacyclin analogue, ciprostene calcium, attenuated U-46619-induced cellular hypertrophy and MAP kinase activity. Ciprostene treatment elevated cellular cAMP and inhibited U-46619-induced tyrosine phosphorylation on Shc and Shc/GRB2 complex formation. These results demonstrate that stimulation of thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin receptors have opposing effects on smooth muscle cell hypertrophy and the signaling pathways associated with this process. We conclude that inhibition of Shc/GRB2 complex formation and MAP kinase activity by ciprostene may contribute to its ability to limit restenosis injury.
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PMID:Activation of thromboxane and prostacyclin receptors elicits opposing effects on vascular smooth muscle cell growth and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascades. 747 20

Growth factor receptor-binding protein-2 (GRB2) couples growth factor receptor activation to the p21ras nucleotide exchange factor son-of-sevenless (SOS). Son-of-sevenless can serve as a substrate for mitogen-activated protein kinases and may be subject to feed back regulation in mitogen-stimulated cells. Herein, we demonstrate phosphorylation on GRB2 in rat A10 vascular smooth muscle cells exposed to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). Lysates from smooth cells stimulated with PDGF revealed a shift in the electrophoretic mobility of GRB2. Further investigation confirmed that phosphorylation on GRB2 accompanied this mobility shift. Phosphorylation on GRB2 was time-dependent and correlated with PDGF receptor activation. The time-course for phosphorylation of GRB2 and subsequent decay corresponded with other events characteristic of platelet-derived growth factor signaling. GRB2 was not phosphorylated in cells treated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, and down-regulation of protein kinase C failed to attenuate phosphorylation on GRB2 in response to growth factor. Analysis of GRB2 immune complexes revealed a kinase activity capable of phosphorylating GRB2 in vitro and demonstrated that the kinase activated in response to PDGF may physically associate with GRB2 signaling complexes.
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PMID:Platelet-derived growth factor stimulates phosphorylation of growth factor receptor-binding protein-2 in vascular smooth muscle cells. 752 85

Grb-2-related adaptor protein (Grap) is a Grb2-like SH3-SH2-SH3 adaptor protein with expression restricted to lymphoid tissues. Grap(-/-) lymphocytes isolated from targeted Grap-deficient mice exhibited enhanced proliferation, interleukin-2 production, and c-fos induction in response to mitogenic T-cell receptor (TCR) stimulation, compared to wild-type cells. Ectopic expression of Grap led to a suppression of Elk-1-directed transcription induced by the Ras/Erk pathway, without having effects on gene expression mediated by Jnk and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases. Together, these data suggest that Grap, unlike Grb2, acts as a negative regulator of TCR-stimulated intracellular signaling by downregulating signal relay through the Ras/Erk pathway.
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PMID:Grap negatively regulates T-cell receptor-elicited lymphocyte proliferation and interleukin-2 induction. 1197 56

RET/papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) oncoproteins result from the in-frame fusion of the RET receptor tyrosine kinase with protein dimerization motifs encoded by heterologous genes. Here, we show that RET/PTC1 activates the Rap1 small GTPase. The activation of Rap1 was dependent on the phosphorylation of RET Tyr(1062). RET/PTC1 recruited a complex containing growth factor receptor binding protein 2-associated binding protein 1 (Gab1), CrkII (v-crk sarcoma virus CT10 oncogene homologue II), and C3G (Rap guanine nucleotide exchange factor 1). By using dominant-negative and small interfering duplex (small interfering RNA) oligonucleotides, we show that RET/PTC1-mediated Rap1 activation was dependent on CrkII, C3G, and Gab1. Activation of Rap1 was involved in the RET/PTC1-mediated stimulation of the BRAF kinase and the p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinases. Proliferation and stress fiber formation of RET/PTC1-expressing PC Cl 3 thyroid follicular cells were inhibited by the dominant-negative Rap1(N17) and by Rap1-specific GTPase-activating protein. Thus, Rap1 is a downstream effector of RET/PTC and may contribute to the transformed phenotype of RET/PTC-expressing thyrocytes.
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PMID:RET/papillary thyroid carcinoma oncogenic signaling through the Rap1 small GTPase. 1721 Jul 21

The small G-protein Ras is a tightly controlled regulator of cell fate. Prolonged or persistent arrest in the activated GTP-loaded state by mutation of Ras as in lung cancer or in a Ras-GTPase-activating protein as in neurofibromatosis type 1 promotes tumorigenesis. We now show that the tumor-suppressor protein merlin (mutated in neurofibromatosis type 2) also controls Ras activity. Systematic analysis of growth factor signaling located the step of merlin interference to the activation of Ras and Rac. Merlin independently uncouples both Ras and Rac from growth factor signals. In the case of Ras, merlin acts downstream of the receptor tyrosine kinase-growth factor receptor binding protein 2 (Grb2)-SOS complex. However, merlin does not bind either SOS or Ras, but it counteracts the ERM (ezrin, radixin, moesin)-dependent activation of Ras, which correlates with the formation of a complex comprising ERM proteins, Grb2, SOS, Ras, and filamentous actin. Because efficient signaling from Ras requires Rac-p21-activated kinase-dependent phosphorylations of Raf and mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase, merlin can also inhibit signal transfer from dominantly active Ras mutants. We propose that the interference of merlin with Ras- and Rac-dependent signal transfer represents part of the tumor-suppressive action of merlin.
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PMID:Merlin/neurofibromatosis type 2 suppresses growth by inhibiting the activation of Ras and Rac. 1723 59