scholarly journals The TGFβ-induced phosphorylation and activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase is mediated by MAP3K4 and MAP3K10 but not TAK1

Open Biology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 130067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopal P. Sapkota

The signalling pathways downstream of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) family of cytokines play critical roles in all aspects of cellular homeostasis. The phosphorylation and activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been implicated in TGFβ-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and apoptosis. The precise molecular mechanisms by which TGFβ cytokines induce the phosphorylation and activation of p38 MAPK are unclear. In this study, I demonstrate that TGFβ-activated kinase 1 (TAK1/MAP3K7) does not play a role in the TGFβ-induced phosphorylation and activation of p38 MAPK in MEFs and HaCaT keratinocytes. Instead, RNAi -mediated depletion of MAP3K4 and MAP3K10 results in the inhibition of the TGFβ-induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation. Furthermore, the depletion of MAP3K10 from cells homozygously knocked-in with a catalytically inactive mutant of MAP3K4 completely abolishes the TGFβ-induced phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, implying that among MAP3Ks, MAP3K4 and MAP3K10 are sufficient for mediating the TGFβ-induced activation of p38 MAPK.

2019 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivonne Loeffler

Abstract Interstitial fibrosis is a typical feature of end-stage renal diseases, regardless of the initial cause of kidney injury. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a mechanism that is thought to play a role in generating the interstitial matrix-producing myofibroblasts and is prominently induced by the transforming growth factor-β 1 (TGF-β1). TGF-β1 signals through a variety of Smad and non-Smad signaling pathways, including the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. In a study published in a recent issue of Clinical Science (Clin. Sci. (2018) 132(21),2339–2355), Li et al. investigated the potential role of the Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 2 (MKP2), also known as Dusp4, in the control of EMT and renal fibrosis. Based on results obtained with an animal model of kidney fibrosis and a proximal tubular epithelial cell line system, the authors put forward a role for MKP2 as a negative feedback regulator of TGF-β1-induced EMT and fibrosis in the kidney. Intriguingly, MKP2 is found to down-regulate activity of c-Jun, but not that of other MAPKs, extracellular signal-regulated kinases or p38, implying a role for c-Jun N-terminal kinase-dependent signaling in renal fibrosis. In this commentary, I discuss the findings of Li and co-workers in the context of the recent literature placing a focus on potential clinical/therapeutic implications.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Hedrick ◽  
Stephen Safe

ABSTRACT Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)-induced migration of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells is dependent on nuclear export of the orphan receptor NR4A1, which plays a role in proteasome-dependent degradation of SMAD7. In this study, we show that TGF-β induces p38α (mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 [MAPK14]), which in turn phosphorylates NR4A1, resulting in nuclear export of the receptor. TGF-β/p38α and NR4A1 also play essential roles in the induction of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and induction of β-catenin in TNBC cells, and these TGF-β-induced responses and nuclear export of NR4A1 are blocked by NR4A1 antagonists, the p38 inhibitor SB202190, and kinase-dead [p38(KD)] and dominant-negative [p38(DN)] forms of p38α. Inhibition of NR4A1 nuclear export results in nuclear export of TGF-β-induced β-catenin, which then undergoes proteasome-dependent degradation. TGF-β-induced β-catenin also regulates NR4A1 expression through formation of the β-catenin–TCF-3/TCF-4/LEF-1 complex on the NR4A1 promoter. Thus, TGF-β-induced nuclear export of NR4A1 in TNBC cells plays an essential role in cell migration, SMAD7 degradation, EMT, and induction of β-catenin, and all of these pathways are inhibited by bis-indole-derived NR4A1 antagonists that inhibit nuclear export of the receptor and thereby block TGF-β-induced migration and EMT.


2003 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 2337-2341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah S. L. Thong ◽  
Wim Derave ◽  
Birgitte Ursø ◽  
Bente Kiens ◽  
Erik A. Richter

We have examined the effects of insulin on p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation in human skeletal muscle and the effects of prior exercise hereon. Seven men performed 1-h one-legged knee extensor exercise 3 h before the initiation of a 100-min euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic (600 pmol/l) clamp. Glucose uptake across the legs was measured with the leg balance technique, and muscle biopsies were obtained from the rested and exercised vastus lateralis before and during insulin infusion. Net glucose uptake during the clamp was ∼50% higher ( P< 0.05) in the exercised leg than in the rested leg. Insulin induced a modest sustained 1.2- and 1.3-fold increase ( P < 0.05) in p38 MAPK phosphorylation in the rested and exercised legs, respectively. However, p38 phosphorylation was ∼50% higher ( P < 0.05) in the exercised compared with the rested leg before and during insulin infusion. We conclude that a physiological concentration of insulin causes modest but sustained activation of the p38 MAPK pathway in human skeletal muscle. Furthermore, the stimulatory effect of exercise on p38 phosphorylation is persistent for at least 3 h after exercise and remains evident during subsequent insulin stimulation. Because p38 MAPK has been suggested to play a necessary role in activation of GLUT-4 at the cell surface, the present data may suggest a putative role of p38 MAPK in the increased insulin sensitivity of skeletal muscle after exercise.


2006 ◽  
Vol 281 (43) ◽  
pp. 32831-32840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Fiedler ◽  
Robert Feil ◽  
Franz Hofmann ◽  
Christian Willenbockel ◽  
Helmut Drexler ◽  
...  

Cardiac myocyte apoptosis during ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) is tightly controlled by a complex network of stress-responsive signaling pathways. One pro-apoptotic pathway involves the interaction of the scaffold protein TAB1 with p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) leading to the autophosphorylation and activation of p38 MAPK. Conversely, NO and its second messenger cGMP protect cardiac myocytes from apoptosis during I/R. We provide evidence that the cGMP target cGMP-dependent protein kinase type I (PKG I) interferes with TAB1-p38 MAPK signaling to protect cardiac myocytes from I/R injury. In isolated neonatal cardiac myocytes, activation of PKG I inhibited the interaction of TAB1 with p38 MAPK, p38 MAPK phosphorylation, and apoptosis induced by simulated I/R. During I/R in vivo, mice with a cardiac myocyte-restricted deletion of PKG I displayed a more pronounced interaction of TAB1 with p38 MAPK and a stronger phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in the myocardial area at risk during reperfusion and more apoptotic cardiac myocytes in the infarct border zone as compared with wild-type littermates. Notably, adenoviral expression of a constitutively active PKG I mutant truncated at the N terminus(PKGI-ΔN1-92) did not inhibit p38 MAPK phosphorylation and apoptosis induced by simulated I/R in vitro, indicating that the N terminus of PKG I is required. As shown by co-immunoprecipitation experiments in HEK293 cells, cGMP-activated PKG I, but not constitutively active PKG I-ΔN1-92 or PKG I mutants carrying point mutations in the N-terminal leucine-isoleucine zipper, interacted with p38 MAPK, and prevented the binding of TAB1 to p38 MAPK. Together, our data identify a novel interaction between the cGMP target PKG I and the TAB1-p38 MAPK signaling pathway that serves as a defense mechanism against myocardial I/R injury.


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