Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases: Functions in Signal Transduction and Human Diseases

Mitogen-activated protein kinases in heart development and diseases.

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases belong to a highly conserved family of Ser-Thr protein kinases in the human kinome and have diverse roles in broad physiological functions. The 4 best-characterized MAP kinase pathways, ERK1/2, JNK, p38, and ERK5, have been implicated in different aspects of cardiac regulation, from development to pathological remodeling. Recent advancements in the develo...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction in solid tumors.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is an important signaling pathway in living beings in response to extracellular stimuli. There are 5 main subgroups manipulating by a set of sequential actions: ERK(ERK1/ ERK2), c-Jun N(JNK/SAPK), p38 MAPK(p38α, p38β, p38γ and p38δ), and ERK3/ ERK4/ ERK5. When stimulated, factors of upstream or downstream change, and by interacting with each other, these ...

The mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction pathway.

Catabolic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is subject to regulatory control by protein kinases. We hypothesized that this regulation involves sequential activation of the enzymes mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK). In the present investigation, we provide evidence that MEK is critically involved in regulating AP...

Editorial: Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases

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-...