The mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) signaling cascade contributes to synaptic plasticity and to long-term memory formation, yet whether MAPK/ERK controls activity-dependent gene expression critical for long-lasting changes at the synapse and what the events underlying transduction of the signal are remain uncertain. Here we show that induction o...

BACKGROUND As a kind of versatility of cytokines, overexpression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) have been reported in a wide variety of tumors. However, the correlation and mechanism between MIF and VEGF-C are still not clear. As an important signal transduction system, MAPK signaling pathways participate in a variety of biologi...

Many changes in environmental conditions and hormones are mediated by MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) cascades in all eukaryotes, including plants. Studies of MAPK pathways in genetic model organisms are especially informative in revealing the molecular mechanisms by means of which MAPK cascades are controlled and modulate cellular processes. The present review highlights recent insight...

Background: Pursuant to establishing the proteomic distribution of MAPK ERK /MAPK p38 in the brain in a model of hypoxia-tolerance [Haddad, Protein Pept Lett, In press, 2007], I therein exclusively report the differential expression of MAPK JNK and related upstream and downstream kinases in various organs of the anoxia-tolerant turtle. Despite the fact that the aforementioned mechanisms involve...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways transfer information from sensors to cellular responses in all eukaryotes. A surprisingly large number of genes encoding MAPK pathway components have been uncovered by analysing model plant genomes, suggesting that MAPK cascades are abundant players of signal transduction. Recent investigations have confirmed major roles of defined MAPK pathways ...

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...