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Molecular and Cellular Biology, April 2000, p. 2334-2342, Vol. 20, No. 7
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

Jinke Cheng,1 Jianhua Yang,1 Ying Xia,2 Michael Karin,2 and Bing Su1,*

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.


* 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.


Molecular and Cellular Biology, April 2000, p. 2334-2342, Vol. 20, No. 7
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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