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Molecular and Cellular Biology, April 2000, p. 2334-2342, Vol. 20, No. 7
Department of Immunology, The University of
Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
77030,1 and Department of Pharmacology,
University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California
920932
Received 21 September 1999/Returned for modification 2 November
1999/Accepted 29 January 2000
Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are activated through
cascades or modules consisting of a MAPK, a MAPK kinase (MAPKK), and a
MAPKK kinase (MAPKKK). Investigating the molecular basis of activation
of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) subgroup of MAPK by the MAPKKK
MEKK2, we found that strong and specific JNK1 activation by MEKK2 was
mediated by the MAPKK JNK kinase 2 (JNKK2) rather than by JNKK1 through
formation of a tripartite complex consisting of MEKK2, JNKK2, and JNK1.
No scaffold protein was required for the MEKK2-JNKK2-JNK1
tripartite-complex formation. Expression of JNK1, JNKK2, and MEKK2
significantly augmented the coprecipitation of, respectively,
MEKK2-JNKK2, MEKK2-JNK1, and JNKK2-JNK1, indicating that the
interaction of MEKK2, JNKK2, and JNK1 is synergistic. Finally, the JNK1
was activated more efficiently in the MEKK2-JNKK2-JNK1 complex than was
the JNK1 excluded from the complex. Thus, formation of a signaling
complex through synergistic interaction of a MAPKKK, a MAPKK, and a
MAPK molecule like MEKK2-JNKK2-JNK1 is likely to be responsible for the
efficient, specific flow of information via MAPK cascades.
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Synergistic Interaction of MEK Kinase 2, c-Jun
N-Terminal Kinase (JNK) Kinase 2, and JNK1 Results in Efficient and
Specific JNK1 Activation
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Immunology, The University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center,
1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 792-8742. Fax: (713) 745-1633. E-mail: bingsu{at}odin.mdacc.tmc.edu.
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