signaling pathways are not isolated from their surroundings. they are also intervened by other signaling pathways known as “crosstalk mechanism”. one of the most important crosstalk mechanisms is the insulinegf network. although insulin and epidermal growth factor (egf) networks have some complexity in their isolated forms, their complexities will grow in the crosstalk network. in this study, w...

The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway is constitutively activated in many human tumor cell types. Given the cytoprotective role of this pathway, we examined whether its specific blockade might sensitize human tumor cells to the induction of apoptosis by various anticancer drugs. Although blockade of ERK signaling alone did not induce substantial cell death, it result...

It has been well documented that miRNAs can modulate the effectiveness of cancer-associated signaling pathways. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK/ERK) signaling plays an essential role in the progression of many cancers, including melanoma and colon cancers. However, no single miRNA is reported to directly target multiple components of the MAPK/ERK pathway. We performed a miRNA PCR array s...

This paper investigates the influence of the Raf Kinase Inhibitor Protein (RKIP) on the Extracellular signal Regulated Kinase (ERK) signaling pathway through mathematical modeling and simulation. Using nonlinear ordinary differential equations to represent biochemical reactions in the pathway, we suggest a technique for parameter estimation, utilizing time series data of proteins involved in th...

inflammatory condition is the consequence of defensive mechanism of immune system against viral and bacterial infection, tissue injury, uv radiation, stress and etc. persistently acute inflammation leads to chronic phase which is characterized by production of pro-inflammatory mediators from t cells. these molecules (e.g. il-6, tnf-α, il-1β and il-17) are mostly pleiotropic cytokines involved i...

Background Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is not sensitive to RAS/RAF/ERK signaling pathway (ERK pathway) targeting therapy, due to the absence of excessive activation of ERK pathway. However, the kinase cascades might be activated after chemotherapy in TNBC. Here we aimed to predict whether ERK pathway targeting therapy could be used as an adjuvant therapy in TNBC. Methods Within onlin...

Fgf8 functions as an organizer at the mes/metencephalic boundary (isthmus). We showed that a strong Fgf8 signal activates the Ras-ERK signaling pathway to organize cerebellar differentiation. Sprouty2 is expressed in an overlapping manner to Fgf8, and is induced by Fgf8. Its function, however, is indicated to antagonize Ras-ERK signaling. Here, we show the regulation of Fgf8 signaling in relati...

The transition between the proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells is a key step in organogenesis, and alterations in this process can lead to developmental disorders. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK) signaling pathway is one of the most intensively studied signaling mechanisms that regulates both proliferation and differentiation. How a single molecule (e.g. ER...