MAP kinases

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) (EC 2.7.1.37) respond to extracellular stimuli (mitogens) and regulate various cellular activities, such as gene expression, mitosis, differentiation, and cell survival/apoptosis. Extracellular stimuli lead to activation of a MAPK via a signaling cascade composed of MAPK, MAPK kinase (MAPKK), and MAPKK kinase (MAPKKK). A MAPKKK that is activated by extracellular stimuli phosphorylates a MAPKK on its serine and threonine residues, and then this MAPKK activates a MAPK through phosphorylation on its serine and tyrosine residues. This MAPK signaling cascade has been evolutionarily well-conserved from yeast to mammals.

To date, four distinct groups of MAPKs have been characterized in mammals: (1) extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), (2) c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), (3) p38 isoforms, and (4) ERK5. The ERKs (also known as classical MAPKs) signaling pathway is preferentially activated in response to growth factors and phorbol ester (a tumor promoter), and regulates cell proliferation and cell differentiation. The JNKs (also known as stress-activated protein kinases; SAPKs) and p38 signaling pathways are responsive to stress stimuli, such as cytokines, ultraviolet irradiation, heat shock, and osmotic shock, and are involved in cell differentiation and apoptosis. And ERK5, which has been found recently, is activated both by growth factors and by stress stimuli, and it participates in cell proliferation.

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