scholarly journals Role of MLK3 in the Regulation of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Cascades

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 3670-3681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Brancho ◽  
Juan-Jose Ventura ◽  
Anja Jaeschke ◽  
Beth Doran ◽  
Richard A. Flavell ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mixed-lineage protein kinase 3 (MLK3) is a member of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase kinase group that has been implicated in multiple signaling cascades, including the NF-κB pathway and the extracellular signal-regulated kinase, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 MAP kinase pathways. Here, we examined the effect of targeted disruption of the murine Mlk3 gene. Mlk3 −/− mice were found to be viable and healthy. Primary embryonic fibroblasts prepared from these mice exhibited no major signaling defects. However, we did find that MLK3 deficiency caused a selective reduction in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-stimulated JNK activation. Together, these data demonstrate that MLK3 contributes to the TNF signaling pathway that activates JNK.

2001 ◽  
Vol 359 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunke HIMPEL ◽  
Pascal PANZER ◽  
Klaus EIRMBTER ◽  
Hanna CZAJKOWSKA ◽  
Muhammed SAYED ◽  
...  

Protein kinases of the DYRK (‘dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase’) family are characterized by a conserved Tyr-Xaa-Tyr motif (Tyr-319–Tyr-321) in a position exactly corresponding to the activation motif of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) family (Thr-Xaa-Tyr). In a molecular model of the catalytic domain of DYRK1A, the orientation of phosphorylated Tyr-321 is strikingly similar to that of Tyr-185 in the known structure of the activated MAP kinase, extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 2. Consistent with our model, substitution of Tyr-321 but not of Tyr-319 by phenylalanine markedly reduced the enzymic activity of recombinant DYRK1A expressed in either Escherichia coli or mammalian cells. Direct identification of phosphorylated residues by tandem MS confirmed that Tyr-321, but not Tyr-319, was phosphorylated. When expressed in COS-7 cells, DYRK1A was found to be fully phosphorylated on Tyr-321. A catalytically inactive mutant of DYRK1A contained no detectable phosphotyrosine, indicating that Tyr-321 is autophosphorylated by DYRK1A. MS identified Tyr-111 and Ser-97 as additional autophosphorylation sites in the non-catalytic N-terminal domain of bacterially expressed DYRK1A. Enzymic activity was not affected in the DYRK1A-Y111F mutant. The present experimental data and the molecular model indicate that the activity of DYRK1A is dependent on the autophosphorylation of a conserved tyrosine residue in the activation loop.


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