The mammalian mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase homologue p38 has been shown to be activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as physical and chemical stresses. We now show that a variety of hemopoietic growth factors, including Steel locus factor, colony stimulating factor-1, granulocyte/macrophage-colony stimulating factor, and interleukin-3, activate p38 MAP kinase and the downstre...

Growth factors and various cellular stresses are known to activate mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, which plays a role in conveying signals from the cytosol to the nucleus. The phosphorylation of MAP kinase is thought to be a prerequisite for translocation. Here, we investigate the translocation and activation of MAP kinase during ischaemia and reperfusion in perfused rat heart. Ischaemi...

In Xenopus oocytes, activation of MAP kinase occurs during meiotic maturation through a protein kinase cascade (the MAP kinase cascade), which is utilized commonly in various intracellular signaling pathways in eukaryotes. Studies with a neutralizing antibody against Xenopus MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), a direct upstream activator for MAP kinase, have shown that the MAP kinase cascade plays a cru...

A very sensitive method was established for detecting the activity of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase in mouse eggs, and used to follow temporal changes of this kinase during fertilization and spontaneous or chemically-induced parthenogenic activation. MAP kinase activity increased between 1 and 2.5 h post-insemination, at which time the second polar body was emitted and sperm chromatin ...

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase is a serine/threonine kinase whose function is thought to be essential for the transduction of mitogenic signals. MAP kinase is activated by phosphorylation induced by a variety of extracellular stimuli, and its direct upstream activator has been identified. Using amphibian and mammalian systems, we show here that ras can activate MAP kinase and its activa...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) modules containing three sequentially activated protein kinases are key components of a series of vital signal transduction pathways that regulate processes such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell death in eukaryotes from yeast to humans (Fig. 1) (Qi and Elion 2005; Raman et al. 2007; Keshet and Seger 2010). Each cascade is initiated by...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways regulate diverse processes ranging from proliferation and differentiation to apoptosis. Activated by an enormous array of stimuli, they phosphorylate numerous proteins, including transcription factors, cytoskeletal proteins, kinases and other enzymes, and greatly influence gene expression, metabolism, cell division, cell morphology and cell survi...