Induction of metaphase arrest in cleaving Xenopus embryos by the protein kinase p90Rsk

Before fertilization, vertebrate eggs are arrested in metaphase of meiosis II by cytostatic factor (CSF), an activity that requires activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. To investigate whether CSF arrest is mediated by the protein kinase p90Rsk, which is phosphorylated and activated by MAPK, a constitutively activated (CA) form of Rsk was expressed in Xenopus embryos. Expression of CA Rsk resulted in cleavage arrest, and cytological analysis showed that arrested blastomeres were in M phase with prominent spindles characteristic of meiotic metaphase. Thus, Rsk appears to be the mediator of MAPK-dependent CSF arrest in vertebrate unfertilized eggs.     

Reduced MAP kinase phosphatase-1 degradation after p42/p44MAPK-dependent phosphorylation

The mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade is inactivated at the level of MAP kinase by members of the MAP kinase phosphatase (MKP) family, including MKP-1. MKP-1 was a labile protein in CCL39 hamster fibroblasts; its degradation was attenuated by inhibitors of the ubiquitin-directed proteasome complex. MKP-1 was a target in vivo and in vitro for p42(MAPK) or p44(MAPK), which phosphorylates MKP-1 on two carboxyl-terminal serine residues, Serine 359 and Serine 364. This phosphorylation did not modify MKP-1's intrinsic ability to dephosphorylate p44(MAPK) but led to stabilization of the protein. These results illustrate the importance of regulated protein degradation in the control of mitogenic signaling.     

Defective thymocyte maturation in p44 MAP kinase (Erk 1) knockout mice

The p42 and p44 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), also called Erk2 and Erk1, respectively, have been implicated in proliferation as well as in differentiation programs. The specific role of the p44 MAPK isoform in the whole animal was evaluated by generation of p44 MAPK-deficient mice by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. The p44 MAPK-/- mice were viable, fertile, and of normal size. Thus, p44 MAPK is apparently dispensable and p42 MAPK (Erk2) may compensate for its loss. However, in p44 MAPK-/- mice, thymocyte maturation beyond the CD4+CD8+ stage was reduced by half, with a similar diminution in the thymocyte subpopulation expressing high levels of T cell receptor (CD3high). In p44 MAPK-/- thymocytes, proliferation in response to activation with a monoclonal antibody to the T cell receptor in the presence of phorbol myristate acetate was severely reduced even though activation of p42 MAPK was more sustained in these cells. The p44 MAPK apparently has a specific role in thymocyte development.     

The substrate of Greatwall kinase, Arpp19, controls mitosis by inhibiting protein phosphatase 2A

Initiation and maintenance of mitosis require the activation of protein kinase cyclin B-Cdc2 and the inhibition of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), which, respectively, phosphorylate and dephosphorylate mitotic substrates. The protein kinase Greatwall (Gwl) is required to maintain mitosis through PP2A inhibition. We describe how Gwl activation results in PP2A inhibition. We identified cyclic adenosine monophosphate-regulated phosphoprotein 19 (Arpp19) and α-Endosulfine as two substrates of Gwl that, when phosphorylated by this kinase, associate with and inhibit PP2A, thus promoting mitotic entry. Conversely, in the absence of Gwl activity, Arpp19 and α-Endosulfine are dephosphorylated and lose their capacity to bind and inhibit PP2A. Although both proteins can inhibit PP2A, endogenous Arpp19, but not α-Endosulfine, is responsible for PP2A inhibition at mitotic entry in Xenopus egg extracts.     

MAPKK-independent activation of p38alpha mediated by TAB1-dependent autophosphorylation of p38alpha

Phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) on specific tyrosine and threonine sites by MAP kinase kinases (MAPKKs) is thought to be the sole activation mechanism. Here, we report an unexpected activation mechanism for p38alpha MAPK that does not involve the prototypic kinase cascade. Rather it depends on interaction of p38alpha with TAB1 [transforming growth factor-beta-activated protein kinase 1 (TAK1)-binding protein 1] leading to autophosphorylation and activation of p38alpha. We detected formation of a TRAF6-TAB1-p38alpha complex and showed stimulus-specific TAB1-dependent and TAB1-independent p38alpha activation. These findings suggest that alternative activation pathways contribute to the biological responses of p38alpha to various stimuli.     

Ability of the c-mos product to associate with and phosphorylate tubulin.

The mos proto-oncogene product, pp39mos, is a protein kinase and has been equated with cytostatic factor (CSF), an activity in unfertilized eggs that is thought to be responsible for the arrest of meiosis at metaphase II. The biochemical properties and potential substrates of pp39mos were examined in unfertilized eggs and in transformed cells in order to study how the protein functions both as CSF and in transformation. The pp39mos protein associated with polymers under conditions that favor tubulin oligomerization and was present in an approximately 500-kilodalton "core" complex under conditions that favor depolymerization. beta-Tubulin was preferentially coprecipitated in pp39mos immunoprecipitates and was the major phosphorylated product in a pp39mos-dependent immune complex kinase assay. Immunofluorescence analysis of NIH 3T3 cells transformed with Xenopus c-mos showed that pp39mos colocalizes with tubulin in the spindle during metaphase and in the midbody and asters during telophase. Disruption of microtubules with nocodazole affected tubulin and pp39mos organization in the same way. It therefore appears that pp39mos is a tubulin-associated protein kinase and may thus participate in the modification of microtubules and contribute to the formation of the spindle. This activity expressed during interphase in somatic cells may be responsible for the transforming activity of pp39mos.     

p38MAPK信号通路选择性调节FSH对甾体生成 的诱导作用研究

利用乙烯雌酚(DES)处理23日龄SD大鼠,分离卵巢颗粒细胞(GC)进行无血清培养。结果表明,FSH(50ng/m1)处理GC,可迅速激活有丝分裂原蛋白激酶(p38MAPK),FSH处理5min便可观察到磷酸化的p38MAPK;FSH处理30min,磷酸化的p38MAPK水平达到最高;向培养液中加入H89(蛋白激酶A抑制剂,10μM),则显著抑制了FSH对p38MAPK的激活作用,提示这种激活作用依赖于蛋白激酶A(PKA)。用SB203580(p38MAPK抑制剂,20μM)抑制p38MAPK激活,则进一步提高了FSH对孕酮和甾体生成快速调节蛋白(StAR)的诱导作用,同时降低了FSH对雌激素生成的促进作用(p<0.01)。RT-PCR结果显示:抑制p38MAPK活性后,FSH对StARmRNA刺激作用明显增强,但对细胞色素P450芳香化酶(P450arom)mRNA的诱导作用却减弱了(p<0.05)。激光共聚焦和蛋白印迹结果显示:在GC中,StAR蛋白主要分布在线粒体中;与对照组相比,FSH显著提高了StAR的荧光强度和蛋白水平;抑制p38MAPK活性则增强了FSH对StAR蛋白表达的诱导作用。     

Essential cytoplasmic translocation of a cytokine receptor-assembled signaling complex

Cytokine signaling is thought to require assembly of multicomponent signaling complexes at cytoplasmic segments of membrane-embedded receptors, in which receptor-proximal protein kinases are activated. Indeed, CD40, a tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) family member, forms a complex containing adaptor molecules TRAF2 and TRAF3, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Ubc13, cellular inhibitor of apoptosis proteins 1 and 2 (c-IAP1/2), IkappaB kinase regulatory subunit IKKgamma (also called NEMO), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase kinase MEKK1 upon ligation. TRAF2, Ubc13, and IKKgamma were required for complex assembly and activation of MEKK1 and MAPK cascades. However, these kinases were not activated unless the multicomponent signaling complex translocated from CD40 to the cytosol upon c-IAP1/2-induced degradation of TRAF3. This two-stage signaling mechanism may apply to other innate immune receptors, accounting for spatial and temporal separation of MAPK and IKK signaling.     

MAP kinase phosphatase as a locus of flexibility in a mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling network

Intracellular signaling networks receive and process information to control cellular machines. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) 1,2/protein kinase C (PKC) system is one such network that regulates many cellular machines, including the cell cycle machinery and autocrine/paracrine factor synthesizing machinery. We used a combination of computational analysis and experiments in mouse NIH-3T3 fibroblasts to understand the design principles of this controller network. We find that the growth factor-stimulated signaling network containing MAPK 1, 2/PKC can operate with one (monostable) or two (bistable) stable states. At low concentrations of MAPK phosphatase, the system exhibits bistable behavior, such that brief stimulus results in sustained MAPK activation. The MAPK-induced increase in the amounts of MAPK phosphatase eliminates the prolonged response capability and moves the network to a monostable state, in which it behaves as a proportional response system responding acutely to stimulus. Thus, the MAPK 1, 2/PKC controller network is flexibly designed, and MAPK phosphatase may be critical for this flexible response.     

Yersinia YopJ acetylates and inhibits kinase activation by blocking phosphorylation

Yersinia species use a variety of type III effector proteins to target eukaryotic signaling systems. The effector YopJ inhibits mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB) signaling pathways used in innate immune response by preventing activation of the family of MAPK kinases (MAPKK). We show that YopJ acted as an acetyltransferase, using acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) to modify the critical serine and threonine residues in the activation loop of MAPKK6 and thereby blocking phosphorylation. The acetylation on MAPKK6 directly competed with phosphorylation, preventing activation of the modified protein. This covalent modification may be used as a general regulatory mechanism in biological signaling.     

Human fibroblasts infected with rubella virus produce a growth inhibitor

A protein that inhibited mitosis of normal human diploid cells was demonstrated in extracts of WI-38 cells that were infected with rubella virus and that had gone into mitotic arrest subsequent to infection. A possible mechanism for the pathogenesis of the rubella syndrome is suggested.     

Calcium, calmodulin, and CaMKII requirement for initiation of centrosome duplication in Xenopus egg extracts

Aberrant centrosome duplication is observed in many tumor cells and may contribute to genomic instability through the formation of multipolar mitotic spindles. Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (Cdk2) is required for multiple rounds of centrosome duplication in Xenopus egg extracts but not for the initial round of replication. Egg extracts undergo periodic oscillations in the level of free calcium. We show here that chelation of calcium in egg extracts or specific inactivation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) blocks even initial centrosome duplication, whereas inactivation of Cdk2 does not. Duplication can be restored to inhibited extracts by addition of CaMKII and calmodulin. These results indicate that calcium, calmodulin, and CaMKII are required for an essential step in initiation of centrosome duplication. Our data suggest that calcium oscillations in the cell cycle may be linked to centrosome duplication.     

Role of importin-beta in coupling Ran to downstream targets in microtubule assembly

The guanosine triphosphatase Ran stimulates assembly of microtubule asters and spindles in mitotic Xenopus egg extracts. A carboxyl-terminal region of the nuclear-mitotic apparatus protein (NuMA), a nuclear protein required for organizing mitotic spindle poles, mimics Ran's ability to induce asters. This NuMA fragment also specifically interacted with the nuclear transport factor, importin-beta. We show that importin-beta is an inhibitor of microtubule aster assembly in Xenopus egg extracts and that Ran regulates the interaction between importin-beta and NuMA. Importin-beta therefore links NuMA to regulation by Ran. This suggests that similar mechanisms regulate nuclear import during interphase and spindle assembly during mitosis.     

Beta-arrestin 2: a receptor-regulated MAPK scaffold for the activation of JNK3

beta-Arrestins, originally discovered in the context of heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide binding protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) desensitization, also function in internalization and signaling of these receptors. We identified c-Jun amino-terminal kinase 3 (JNK3) as a binding partner of beta-arrestin 2 using a yeast two-hybrid screen and by coimmunoprecipitation from mouse brain extracts or cotransfected COS-7 cells. The upstream JNK activators apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase 4 were also found in complex with beta-arrestin 2. Cellular transfection of beta-arrestin 2 caused cytosolic retention of JNK3 and enhanced JNK3 phosphorylation stimulated by ASK1. Moreover, stimulation of the angiotensin II type 1A receptor activated JNK3 and triggered the colocalization of beta-arrestin 2 and active JNK3 to intracellular vesicles. Thus, beta-arrestin 2 acts as a scaffold protein, which brings the spatial distribution and activity of this MAPK module under the control of a GPCR.     

甘蔗MAP激酶基因SoMAPK4克隆与生物信息学分析

[目的]克隆甘蔗MAP激酶家族新基因的全长序列,为了解甘蔗抗逆胁迫机制提供依据.[方法]以新台糖22为材料,提取甘蔗幼叶总RNA并反转录为cDNA;利用已知物种MAP激酶基因核苷酸序列保守区设计引物,采用5′和3′端RACE技术克隆新基因全长,并进行生物信息学分析.[结果]克隆获得的甘蔗新基因与玉米ZmMAPK4同源性很高,达92.6%,将该基因命名为SoMAPK4(登录号JQ062930),基因全长1499 bp,其中开放阅读框(ORF)为1128 bp,5′非翻译区(UTR)为218 bp,3′非翻译区(UTR)为213 bp.生物信息学分析结果表明,SoMAPK4基因编码一个含376个氨基酸的蛋白质,分子量约43.5 kDa,等电点为5.51,含有11个保守的蛋白激酶亚区和MAP激酶的磷酸化位点TEY基序.[结论]克隆获得甘蔗MAP激酶新基因SoMAPK4,该基因可能参与多种胁迫反应的信号传递,是研究甘蔗非生物胁迫和生物胁迫过程中信号传递的一个关键因素.     

Phosphorylation and regulation of Raf by Akt (protein kinase B)

Activation of the protein kinase Raf can lead to opposing cellular responses such as proliferation, growth arrest, apoptosis, or differentiation. Akt (protein kinase B), a member of a different signaling pathway that also regulates these responses, interacted with Raf and phosphorylated this protein at a highly conserved serine residue in its regulatory domain in vivo. This phosphorylation of Raf by Akt inhibited activation of the Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway and shifted the cellular response in a human breast cancer cell line from cell cycle arrest to proliferation. These observations provide a molecular basis for cross talk between two signaling pathways at the level of Raf and Akt.     

Cell cycle control of DNA replication by a homologue from human cells of the p34cdc2 protein kinase

The regulation of DNA replication during the eukaryotic cell cycle was studied in a system where cell free replication of simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA was used as a model for chromosome replication. A factor, RF-S, was partially purified from human S phase cells based on its ability to activate DNA replication in extracts from G1 cells. RF-S contained a human homologue of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe p34cdc2 kinase, and this kinase was necessary for RF-S activity. The limiting step in activation of the p34 kinase at the G1 to S transition may be its association with a cyclin since addition of cyclin A to a G1 extract was sufficient to start DNA replication. These observations suggest that the role of p34cdc2 in controlling the start of DNA synthesis has been conserved in evolution.