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Molecular and Cellular Biology, January 2000, p. 617-627, Vol. 20, No. 2
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology,
Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
972011; Department of Cancer Biology,
Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland,
Ohio 441952; and Unite de Virologie et
d'Immunologie Cellulaire, Institut Pasteur, Paris cedex 15, 75724, France3
Received 24 August 1999/Returned for modification 1 October
1999/Accepted 18 October 1999
Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) accumulates in virus-infected mammalian
cells and signals the activation of host defense pathways of the
interferon system. We describe here a novel form of dsRNA-triggered signaling that leads to the stimulation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and the c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase
(JNK) and of their respective activators MKK3/6 and SEK1/MKK4. The
dsRNA-dependent signaling to p38 MAPK was largely intact in cells
lacking both RNase L and the dsRNA-activated protein kinase (PKR),
i.e., the two best-characterized mediators of dsRNA-triggered antiviral responses. In contrast, activation of both MKK4 and JNK by dsRNA was
greatly reduced in cells lacking RNase L (or lacking both RNase L and
PKR) but was restored in these cells when introduction of dsRNA was
followed by inhibition of ongoing protein synthesis or transcription.
These results are consistent with the notion that the role of RNase L
and PKR in the activation of MKK4 and JNK is the elimination, via
inhibition of protein synthesis, of a labile negative regulator(s) of
the signaling to JNK acting upstream of SEK1/MKK4. In the course of
these studies, we identified a long-sought site of RNase L-mediated
cleavage in the 28S rRNA, which could cause inhibition of translation,
thus allowing the activation of JNK by dsRNA. We propose that p38 MAPK
is a general participant in dsRNA-triggered cellular responses, whereas
the activation of JNK might be restricted to cells with reduced rates of protein synthesis. Our studies demonstrate the existence of alternative (RNase L- and PKR-independent) dsRNA-triggered signaling pathways that lead to the stimulation of stress-activated MAPKs. Activation of p38 MAPK (but not of JNK) was demonstrated in mouse fibroblasts in response to infection with encephalomyocarditis virus
(ECMV), a picornavirus that replicates through a dsRNA intermediate. Fibroblasts infected with EMCV (or treated with dsRNA) produced interleukin-6, an inflammatory and pyrogenic cytokine, in a p38 MAPK-dependent fashion. These findings suggest that stress-activated MAPKs participate in mediating inflammatory and febrile responses to
viral infections.
0270-7306/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Activation of p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase
and c-Jun NH2-Terminal Kinase by Double-Stranded RNA and
Encephalomyocarditis Virus: Involvement of RNase L, Protein Kinase
R, and Alternative Pathways
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Cell and Developmental Biology, Oregon Health Sciences University,
Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 494-7811. Fax: (503) 494-4253. E-mail: magunb{at}OHSU.edu.
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