Oxymatrine, a potent monosomic alkaloid extracted from Chinese herb Sophora japonica (Sophora flavescens Ait.). possesses anti-inflammatory activittyes.  This study was designed to investigate the effects of oxymatrine on nuclear factor–kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent inflammatory responses in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated microglia. In this paper, BV2...

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major complication of diabetes that contributes to an increase in mortality. A number of mechanisms potentially explain the development of DCM including oxidative stress, inflammation and extracellular fibrosis. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-mediated signaling pathways are common among these pathogenic responses. Among the diverse array of kinases, e...

p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) signaling plays a major role in the modulation of immune-mediated inflammatory responses and therefore has been linked with several autoimmune diseases. The extent of the involvement of p38 MAPK in the pathogenesis of autoimmune blistering diseases has started to emerge, but whether it pays a critical role is a matter of debate. The activity of p3...

Many actions of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) on gene expression are mediated by the transcription factor NF-kappaB. Activation of NF-kappaB by TNF and IL-1 is initiated by the phosphorylation of the inhibitory subunit, IkappaB, which targets IkappaB for degradation and leads to the release of active NF-kappaB. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammat...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have demonstrated that p38 MAPK signal transduction pathway plays an important role in the development and maintenance of inflammatory pain. Electroacupuncture (EA) can suppress the inflammatory pain. However, the relationship between EA effect and p38 MAPK signal transduction pathway in inflammatory pain remains poorly understood. It is our hypothesis that p38 MAPK/...

Lung endothelial barrier function is regulated by multiple signaling pathways, including mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) 1/2 and p38. We have recently shown involvement of microtubule (MT) disassembly in endothelial cell (EC) barrier failure. In this study, we examined potential involvement of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK in lung EC barrier dysfuncti...

The administration of endotoxins from Gram-negative bacteria induces manifestations reminding of acute respiratory distress syndrome. p38 MAPKs have been implicated in this pathology. In this study, we show that the specific p38 alpha,beta MAPK inhibitor, compound 37, prevents LPS-induced bronchoconstriction and neutrophil recruitment into the lungs and bronchoalveolar space in a dose-dependent...

low glucose condition induces neuronal cell-death via intracellular mechanisms including mitogen-activated protein kinases (mapk) signaling pathways. it has been shown that low glucose medium decreases neuronal survival in cerebellar granule neurons (cgns). in this study, we have examined the activation of jnk, p38kinase and erk1/2 pathways in low glucose medium in cgns. the cgns were prepared ...

It has previously been known that transcription of the PGC-1α gene can be either inhibited or stimulated by p38 MAP kinase (p38 MAPK). To determine whether p38 MAPK plays an inhibitory or stimulatory role in PGC-1α gene transcription, we further investigated the role of p38 MAPK in this study. Our results showed that the basal level of p38 MAPK phosphorylation was increased in gastrocnemius of ...

We previously demonstrated that diperoxovanadate (DPV), a synthetic peroxovanadium compound and cell-permeable oxidant that acts as a protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor and insulinomimetic, increased phospholipase D (PLD) activation in endothelial cells (ECs). In this report, the regulation of DPV-induced PLD activation by mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) was investigated. DPV acti...