ERK and p38 MAPK-Activated Protein Kinases: a Family of Protein Kinases with Diverse Biological Functions

Diverse Biological Functions Kinases: a Family of Protein Kinases with ERK and p38 MAPK-Activated Protein

Extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)-independent functions of Raf kinases.

Raf comprises a family of three kinases, A-Raf, B-Raf and Raf-1, which are best known as key regulators of the MEK-MAPK/ERK cascade. This module is often perceived as a linear pathway in which ERK is the effector. However, recent advances have unveiled a role for Raf outside this established signalling unit. Current evidence, including gene-knockout studies in mice, suggests that there are ERK-...

Src Family Kinases and p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases Regulate Pluripotent Cell Differentiation in Culture

Multiple pluripotent cell populations, which together comprise the pluripotent cell lineage, have been identified. The mechanisms that control the progression between these populations are still poorly understood. The formation of early primitive ectoderm-like (EPL) cells from mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells provides a model to understand how one such transition is regulated. EPL cells form fr...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways mediated by ERK, JNK, and p38 protein kinases.

Multicellular organisms have three well-characterized subfamilies of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) that control a vast array of physiological processes. These enzymes are regulated by a characteristic phosphorelay system in which a series of three protein kinases phosphorylate and activate one another. The extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) function in the control of cell...

"Stress-responsive" mitogen-activated protein kinases (c-Jun N-terminal kinases and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases) in the myocardium.

Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Cascades: Terminology and Properties The best-characterized subfamilies of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) superfamily are the extracellularly responsive kinases (ERKs) and the two “stress-responsive” MAPK subfamilies, namely, the c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) and the p38-MAPKs. As yet, no single nomenclature has been determined, and the synonyms c...