• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.93-100
• /
• 2008

Targeting protein kinases has been active area in drug discovery. The c-Jun N-terminal kinases(JNKs) have also been target for development of novel therapy in various diseases, since the roles of JNK signaling in pathological conditions were revealed in studies using jnk-deficient mice. Small molecule inhibitors and peptide inhibitors are identified for therapeutic intervention of JNK signaling pathway. SP-600125, an anthrapyrazole small molecule inhibitor for JNK with high potency and selectivity has been widely used for dissecting JNK signaling pathway. CC-401 is the first JNK inhibitor that went into clinical trial for inflammation and leukemia. Inhibitor for mixed lineage kinase (MLK), CEP-1347 also negatively regulates JNK signaling, and tried for potential use in Parkinson's disease. Cell-permeable peptide inhibitor D-JNKI-1 is being developed for the treatment of hearing loss. The current status of these JNK inhibitors and safety issue is discussed in the minireview.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.129-135
• /
• 2006

Vascular smooth muscle contraction is mediated by activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, an isoform of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). However, the role of stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in vascular smooth muscle contraction has not been defined. We investigated the role of JNK in the contractile response to norepinephrine (NE) in rat aortic smooth muscle. NE evoked contraction in a dose-dependent manner, and this effect was inhibited by the JNK inhibitor SP600125. NE increased the phosphorylation of JNK, which was greater in aortic smooth muscle from hypertensive rats than from normotensive rats. NE-induced JNK phosphorylation was significantly inhibited by SP600125 and the conventional-type PKC (cPKC) inhibitor Go6976, but not by the Rho kinase inhibitor Y27632 or the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002. Thymeleatoxin, a selective activator of cPKC, increased JNK phosphorylation, which was inhibited by $G{\ddot{o}}6976$. SP600125 attenuated the phosphorylation of caldesmon, an actin-binding protein whose phosphorylation is increased by NE. These results show that JNK contributes to NE-mediated contraction through phosphorylation of caldesmon in rat aortic smooth muscle, and that this effect is regulated by the PKC pathway, especially cPKC.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.17 no.12
• /
• pp.1627-1633
• /
• 2007

c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-interacting protein 1 (JIP1), also known as Islet-brain 1 (IB1), is a scaffold protein that is highly expressed in neurons and pancreatic ${\beta}-cells$. In this study subcellular localization of JIP was investigated in cultured rat hippocampal neurons using an antibody that recognize all variants of JIP1, JIP-2 and JIP-3. The overall expression profile of JIP is punctate throughout soma and dendrites. Statistic analysis showed that $54.8{\pm}4.0%\;and\;94.1{\pm}4.5%$ of total JIP immunopuncta overlapped with those of excitatory postsynaptic markers SD-95 and ${\alpha}Camik$, respectively. In contrast, only $8.6{\pm}0.5%\;and\;7.3{\pm}0.5%$ of JIP clusters overlapped with those of inhibitory postsynaptic markers glycine receptor (GlyR) and gephyrin, respectively. JIP clusters overlapped or juxtaposed with SV2 but not GAD, markers for general and inhibitory nerve terminals, respectively. A substantial fraction $(29.3{\pm}1.0%)$ of flotillin immunopuncta, a marker for lipid rafts, clusters overlapped with those of JIP. In addition, JIP was highly expressed in some select ends of dendrites but minimal in axons. These data suggest important roles of JIP in excitatory postsynaptic sites, lipid rafts and dendritic ends.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.31 no.8
• /
• pp.2147-2150
• /
• 2010

c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1) is involved in apoptosis, cell differentiation and proliferation. It has been reported that a flavonol, quercetin, induces cell apoptosis and JNK inhibition. In order to understand the interactions of quercetin and JNK1, we performed receptor-oriented pharmacophore based in silico screening and determined a binding model of human JNK1 and quercetin at the ATP binding site of JNK1. 5-OH of A-ring and carbonyl oxygen of C-ring of quercetin participated in hydrogen bonding interactions with backbone of E109 and M111. Additionally, 3'-OH of quercetin formed a hydrogen bond with backbone of I32. One hydrophobic interaction is related on the binding of quercetin to JNK1 with I32, N114, and V158. Based on this model, we conducted a docking study with other 8 flavonols to find possible flavonoids inhibitors of JNK1. We proposed that one flavonols, rhamnetin, can be a potent inhibitor of JNK and 5-OH of A-ring and 3'-OH of B-ring of flavonols are the essential features for JNK1 inhibition.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.371-376
• /
• 2002

The receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B (RANK) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily. It plays a critical role in osteoclast differentiaion, lymph node organogenesis, and mammary gland development. The stimulation of RANK causes the activation of transcription factors NF-${\kappa}B$ and activator protein 1 (AP1), and the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). In the signal transduction of RANK, the recruitment of the adaptor molecules, TNF receptor-associated factors (TRAFs), is and initial cytoplasmic event. Recently, the association of the MAPK kinase kinase, transforming growth factor-$\beta$-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), with TRAF6 was shown to mediate the IL-1 signaling to NF-${\kappa}B$ and JNK. We investigated whether or not TAK1 plays a role in RANK signaling. A dominant-negative form of TAK1 was discovered to abolish the RANK-induced activation of AP1 and JNK. The AP1 activation by TRAF2, TRAF5, and TRAF6 was also greatly suppressed by the dominant-negative TAK1. the inhibitory effect of the TAK1 mutant on RANK-and TRAF-induced NF-${\kappa}B$ activation was also observed, but less efficiently. Our findings indicate that TAK1 is involved in the MAPK cascade and NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway that is activated by RANK.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.76-81
• /
• 2007

The effect of either low or high intensity four weeks exercise treadmill running on the activation of the extracellular-signal regulated protein kinase (ERK1/2) and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK) pathways was determined in rat tibialis muscle. Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to one of three groups: (i) sedentary group(NE; n=10); (ii) low intensity exercise group (8m/min; LIE; n=10); and (iii) high intensity exercise group(28m/min; HIE; n=10). The training regimens were planned so that animals covered the same distance and had similar glycogenutilization for both LIE and HIE exercise sessions. After four weeks exercise, 48 h after the last exercise bout obtained samples. pERK1 increased 1.5 times comparing with the sedentary group in the low intensity group while it increased 11.7 times in high intensity group, in the tibialis of rats. In the low intensity group, pERK2 increased 1.4 times comparing with the sedentary group while it increased 3.3 times in high intensity group. While pJNK1 decreased 0.9 times, comparing with the sedentary group, pJNK2 was increased to 0.5 times in the low intensity group. But in high intensity group, pJNK2 decreased 0.7 times while pJNK1 didn't show any change. In conclusion, Four weeks exercise of different intensities results in tibialis muscle activation of intracellular signal pathways, which may be one mechanism regulating specific adaptations induced by different exercise intensities.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.95-104
• /
• 2007

The mechanism of acacetin-induced apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells was investigated. Acacetin caused 50% growth inhibition ($IC_{50}$) of MCF-7 cells at $26.4{\pm}0.7{\mu}M$ over 24 h in the MTT assay. Apoptosis was characterized by DNA fragmentation and an increase of sub-G1 cells and involved activation of caspase-7 and PARP (poly-ADP-ribose polymerase). Maximum caspase 7 activity was observed with $100{\mu}M$ acacetin for 24 h. Caspase 8 and 9 activation cascades mediated the activation of caspase 7. Acacetin caused a reduction of Bcl-2 expression leading to an increase of the Bax:Bcl-2 ratio. It also caused a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential that induced release of cytochrome c and apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) into the cytoplasm, enhancing ROS generation and subsequently resulting in apoptosis. Pretreatment of cells with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced ROS generation and cell growth inhibition, and pretreatment with NAC or a caspase 8 inhibitor (Z-IETD-FMK) inhibited the acacetin-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c and AIF. Stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun $NH_4$-terminal kinase 1/2 (SAPK/JNK1/2) and c-Jun were activated by acacetin but extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2) nor p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were not. Our results show that acacetin-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 cells is mediated by caspase activation cascades, ROS generation, mitochondria-mediated cell death signaling and the SAPK/JNK1/2-c-Jun signaling pathway, activated by acacetin-induced ROS generation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.147-147
• /
• 2001

A previous study showed that sulfur amino acid deprivation (SAAD) potentiated cytotoxicity induced by arsenic (As) and that activation of ERKl/2, p38 kinase and JNK1 was responsible for the potentiation of As toxicity. In the present study, we found for the first time that deprenyl a selective monoamine oxidase B inhibitor prevented potentiation of As toxicity by SAAD in a dose-dependent manner.(omitted)

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.185-191
• /
• 2008

Activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family, is an important cellular response that modulates the outcome of the cells which are exposed to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or the genotoxic stress including DNA damaging agents. Although it is known that JNK is activated in response to genotoxic stress, neither the pathways to transduce signals to activate JNK nor the primary sensors of the cells that trigger the stress response have been identified. Here, we report that the receptor interacting protein (RIP), a key adaptor protein of TNF signaling, was required to activate JNK in the cells treated with certain DNA damaging agents such as adriamycin (Adr) and 1-${\beta}$-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (Ara-C) that cause slow and sustained activation, but it was not required when treated with N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and short wavelength UV, which causes quick and transient activation. Our findings revealed that this sustained JNK activation was not mediated by the TNF (tumor necrosis factor) receptor signaling, but it required a functional ATM (ataxia telangiectasia) activity. In addition, JNK inhibitor SP-600125 significantly blocked the Adr-induced cell death, but it did not affect the cell death induced by MNNG. These findings suggest that the sustained activation of JNK mediated by RIP plays an important role in the DNA damage-induced cell death, and that the duration of JNK activation relays a different stress response to determine the cell fate.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.499-507
• /
• 2024

Specific sensitivity of the skin to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays is one of the mechanisms responsible for widespread skin damage. This study tested whether 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene (THB), a compound abundant in marine products, might inhibit UVB radiationinduced NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) in both human HaCaT keratinocytes and mouse dorsal skin and explore its cytoprotective mechanism. The mechanism of action was determined using western blotting, immunocytochemistry, NADP⁺/NADPH assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection, and cell viability assay. THB attenuated UVB-induced NOX4 expression both in vitro and in vivo, and suppressed UVB-induced ROS generation via NADP⁺ production, resulting in increased cell viability with decreased apoptosis. THB also reduced the expression of UVB-induced phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). THB suppressed UVB-induced NOX4 expression and ROS generation by inhibiting AMPK and JNK signaling pathways, thereby inhibiting cellular damage. These results showed that THB could be developed as a UV protectant.