p38 Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is one of the most ancient signaling molecules and is involved in multiple cellular processes, including cell proliferation, cell growth, and cell death. In the heart, enhanced activation of p38 MAPK is associated with ischemia/reperfusion injury and the onset of heart failure. In the present study, we investigated the function of p38 MAPK in regulati...

Esophageal (ESO) circular muscle contraction and lower esophageal sphincter (LES) tone are PKC dependent. Because MAPKs may be involved in PKC-dependent contraction, we examined ERK1/ERK2 and p38 MAPKs in ESO and LES. In permeabilized LES muscle cells, ERK1/2 antibodies reduced 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol (DG)- and threshold ACh-induced contraction, which are PKC dependent, but not maximal ACh, whic...

The barnacle Balanus ( = Amphibalanus) amphitrite is a major marine fouling animal. Understanding the molecular mechanism of larval settlement in this species is critical for anti-fouling research. In this study, we cloned one isoform of p38 MAPK (Bar-p38 MAPK) from this species, which shares the significant characteristic of containing a TGY motif with other species such as yeast, Drosophila a...

The signalling pathways downstream of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) family of cytokines play critical roles in all aspects of cellular homeostasis. The phosphorylation and activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been implicated in TGFβ-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and apoptosis. The precise molecular mechanisms by which TGFβ cytokines induce th...

Podocytes play an important role in maintaining normal glomerular function and structure, and podocyte injury leads to proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis. The family of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK; extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK], c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38) may be implicated in the progression of various glomerulopathies, but the role of MAPK in podocyte injury re...

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is considered to be an advancing antitumor technology. PDT using hydrophilic/lipophilic tetra‑α-(4-carboxyphenoxy) phthalocyanine zinc (TαPcZn-PDT) has exhibited antitumor activity in Bel-7402 hepatocellular cancer cells. However, the manner in which p38 MAPK and caspase-9 are involved in the regulation of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in the TαPcZn-PDT-treated LoVo...

Aldosterone-induced myocyte apoptosis is an important component of cardiovascular disease. While the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) pathway has been shown to be crucial in myocyte apoptosis, whether aldosterone induces myocyte apoptosis through this pathway remains unclear. In the present study, three individual strands of p38 MAPK short hairpin RNA (ShRNA), delivered by lentiv...

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...

Cancer patients undergoing treatment with systemic cancer chemotherapy drugs often experience debilitating fatigue similar to sickness behavior, a normal response to infection or tissue damage caused by the production of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and IL-6. The p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) plays a central role in the production of these cytokines and cons...

The p38 Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathway is upregulated in COPD. To date dual-labelling to identify cell-type specific presence of phosphorylated (phospho-) p38 MAPK has not been carried out. Phospho-p38 MAPK was quantified in a variety of cell types in the lung tissue of 20 COPD patients, 12 smokers and 12 non-smokers using immunohistochemistry. Paired blood and sputum neutrophi...