JNK 信号通路的激活在帕金森病发病机制中的作用

帕金森病是一种慢性中枢神经系统神经退行性疾病,主要以静止震颤、肌肉僵直和运动减少为临床症状,其确切病因尚不清楚。c-Jun氧基末端激酶（JNK）信号通路是MAPK通路的重要分支,在细胞周期、生长、凋亡和应激等生理和病理过程中发挥重要作用。研究显示,JNK信号通路与帕金森病的发生发展有很大关系,JNK信号通路的激活可导致线粒体复合体I减少、细胞色素e释放、细胞内活性氧增加等一系列引起多巴胺能神经元功能异常,乃至细胞凋亡的反应的发生。我们通过总结DJ-1、乳胞素和猪毛菜酚等5种与JNK信号通路激活相关的内外源物质,简述JNK信号转导通路与PD的关系。     

活性氧对NF-κB活性及JNK信号通路的调节

活性氧（ROS）是生物体有氧代谢过程中产生的一类活性含氧化合物的总称,机体细胞可通过多种途径维持ROS产生与降解的动态平衡。研究表明,活性氧可作为第二信使调节与细胞增殖、分化、凋亡相关的信号转导通路。c-JunN端激酶（JNK）通路可以介导氧化应激、细胞因子、紫外照射等引起的细胞凋亡。另外,κ基因结合核因子（NF-κB）是氧化应激调节的靶因子之一,同样也能诱导促进细胞内的氧化应激反应,还可通过活性氧蓄积抑制JNK的激活。简要综述活性氧对NF-κB和JNK信号通路的调节。     

ROS介导JNK信号通路的研究进展

c-JunN端激酶(JNK)通路是细胞感受外界环境变化的重要途径,与细胞增殖、分化、凋亡等生命过程息息相关.活性氧(ROS)具有很高的生物学活性,可作为第二信使参与到JNK信号通之中.ROS可通过ASK1、Src激酶、GSTπ、MLK3、RIP-TRAF2复合体、MKPs等信号蛋白活化JNK,也可以充当IKK/NF-κ B、ERK等信号通路与JNK信号通路交叉时话的桥梁.另外JNK有时可出现在ROS上游,可通过促进ROS产生或聚集而发挥生物学作用.本文将对近年来ROS介导JNK信号通路网络调控的研究进展作一综述.     

JNK激酶介导mGluR1对细胞凋亡的不同效应

代谢型谷氨酸受体1（mGluR1）可以通过激活多条信号通路促进或抑制细胞凋亡.然而,导致这种生理功能差异的机制尚不明确.本研究选用两种细胞系,即大鼠神经胶质瘤细胞系（C6）和人胚胎肾细胞（HEK293）分别研究内源性和外源转染的mGluR1的激活对细胞凋亡的影响及其调节机制. 结果显示,内源性mGluR1的活化能够激活PI3K/ERK/JNK通路,抑制凋亡试剂STS诱导的细胞凋亡;而外源转染的mGluR1的活化能够分别激活PI3K/ERK和JNK通路,同时促进STS诱导的应激损伤. HEK293细胞中,应用JNK通路抑制剂SP600125,能够部分抑制由mGluR1激活介导的caspase 3的剪切和细胞凋亡;而在C6细胞中阻断JNK通路,则加剧了由mGluR1活化而引起的细胞凋亡. 本文结果提示：mGluR1通过不同信号通路影响细胞凋亡,其中JNK通路可能是调控细胞凋亡的关键途径.本文为受体激活对细胞凋亡能够产生不同的调控作用提供了相应的证据.     

内质网应激与心血管疾病研究概述

内质网应激是继死亡受体信号途径和线粒体途径之后新近发现的一条细胞凋亡通路,适度的应激可通过未折叠蛋白反应(UPR)产生细胞保护作用,但当应激过强或长时间不缓解时则会触发CHOP、ASK1/JNK及Caspases等通路诱导细胞凋亡。近年来研究发现内质网应激参与多种心血管疾病的发生发展,通过对相关通路的干预可以产生心肌细胞的保护作用,这有望成为防治心脏疾病的新靶点。     

非酒精性脂肪性肝病细胞凋亡的内质网应激启动机制

内质网应激反应,是由于某些因素导致内质网的生理功能紊乱引起的一种细胞自我防御保护机制.内质网应激所诱导的细胞凋亡是近年来新被认识的一种凋亡途径,它不同于既往经典线粒体、死亡受体介导的细胞凋亡.当短暂性内质网应激时,通过激活未折叠蛋白反应来增强机体自我保护及生存能力;而持续性应激状态下,如非酒精性脂肪性肝病所诱导的内质网应激启动一系列凋亡途径如CHOP、JNK、Caspase等,上述凋亡途径可以加速诱导肝细胞凋亡,使NAFLD向肝纤维化方向甚至肝硬化发展.     

IRE1/TRAF2诱导细胞凋亡的分子机制

在细胞内质网应激中,IRE1/TRAF2/ASK1复合物可激活JNK信号通路,诱导细胞凋亡。IRE1-Lys828可被E3连接酶CHIP泛素化而激活。而TRAF2本身也具有RING结构域的E3泛素连接酶活性,可结合于IRE1的泛素化位点Lys828,促进IRE1磷酸化活化。IRE1/TRAF2复合物可募集ASK1,进而磷酸化激活JNK信号通路。另外,IRE1/TRAF2也可激活MAPK/p38、NF-κB以及caspase-12等信号途径,促进细胞凋亡。ASK1也是内质网应激IRE1/TRAF2诱导激活细胞凋亡所必需的。因此,TRAF2在调控细胞内质网应激,激活IRE1途径,诱导细胞凋亡中具有重要的作用,可作为一个靶点进行药物开发。     

氧化应激与2型糖尿病

胰岛素抵抗、胰岛β细胞功能受损是2型糖尿病的主要病因。高血糖、高血脂导致在代谢过程中,线粒体产生大量活性氧,其可损坏线粒体功能,引起氧化应激反应。氧化应激可以激活细胞内的一系列应激信号通路,如JNK／SAPK、p38MAPK、IKKβ／NF-kβ和氨基己醣通路等。这些应激通路的激活可以产生以下结果：（1）阻断胰岛素作用通路,导致胰岛素抵抗;（2）降低胰岛素基因表达水平;（3）抑制胰岛素分泌;（4）促进β细胞凋亡等。本文主要针对活性氧的产生、氧化应激诱导胰岛素抵抗和胰岛β细胞功能受损等机制加以综述,以便进一步阐明2型糖尿病的发病机理。     

JNK信号通路研究进展

c-Jun氨基末端激酶(JNK)家族是促分裂原活化蛋白激酶(MAPK)超家族成员之一,以JNK为中心的JNK信号通路可被细胞因子、生长因子、应激等多种因素激活,大量实验提示JNK信号通路在细胞分化、细胞凋亡、应激反应以及多种人类疾病的发生与发展中起着至关重要的作用。现对JNK信号通路的基本构成、调节方式及其与胞内其他信号通路间相互作用进行综述。     

MAPK／JNK信号传导通路研究进展

JNK信号途径参与如胚胎发育、免疫反应、细胞分化等许多正常的生理过程。近年来研究表明,JNK信号途径也参与许多病理过程：JNK介导心脏肥大反应,与Ⅱ型糖尿病发病有关,介导胰腺b细胞凋亡;JNK信号途径的异常活化与多种人类肿瘤的发生发展密切相关,因此JNK是一个潜在的治疗分子靶,已引起人们的关注。对其功能及作用的分子机制的深入研究,有助于我们对JNK相关疾病的了解和寻找可能的干预和治疗途径。     

Mitochondrial c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling initiates physiological changes resulting in amplification of reactive oxygen species generation

The JNK signaling cascade is critical for cellular responses to a variety of environmental and cellular stimuli. Although gene expression aspects of JNK signal transduction are well studied, there are minimal data on the physiological impact of JNK signaling. To bridge this gap, we investigated how JNK impacted physiology in HeLa cells. We observed that inhibition of JNK activity and JNK silencing with siRNA reduced the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during anisomycin-induced stress in HeLa cells. Silencing p38 had no significant impact on ROS generation under anisomycin stress. Moreover, JNK signaling mediated amplification of ROS production during stress. Mitochondrial superoxide production was shown to be the source of JNK-induced ROS amplification, as an NADPH oxidase inhibitor demonstrated little impact on JNK-mediated ROS generation. Using mitochondrial isolation from JNK null fibroblasts and targeting the mitochondrial scaffold of JNK, Sab, we demonstrated that mitochondrial JNK signaling was responsible for mitochondrial superoxide amplification. These results suggest that cellular stress altered mitochondria, causing JNK to translocate to the mitochondria and amplify up to 80% of the ROS generated largely by Complex I. This work demonstrates that a sequence of events exist for JNK mitochondrial signaling whereby ROS activates JNK, thereby affecting mitochondrial physiology, which can have effects on cell survival and death.     

JNK signaling pathway is a key modulator in cell death mediated by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species

c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), or stress-activated protein kinase, is an important member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase superfamily, the members of which are readily activated by many environmental stimuli. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are important groups of free radicals that are capable of eliciting direct damaging effects or acting as critical intermediate signaling molecules, leading to oxidative and nitrosative stress and a series of biological consequences. Recently there has been an increasing amount of research interest focusing on the regulatory role of JNK activation in ROS-and RNS-induced cellular responses. In this review we will first summarize and discuss some recent findings regarding the signaling mechanisms of ROS-or RNS-mediated JNK activation. Second, we will talk about the role of JNK in ROS-or RNS-mediated cell death (both apoptosis and necrosis). Finally, we will analyze the emerging evidence for the involvement of ROS and RNS as mediators in tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced apoptosis. Taken together, the accumulating knowledge about the ROS/RNS-induced JNK signaling pathway has greatly advanced our understanding of the complex processes deciding the cellular responses to environmental stress.     

Modulation of intracellular iron levels by oxidative stress implicates a novel role for iron in signal transduction

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) display cytotoxicity that can be exacerbated by iron. Paradoxically, HeLa cells treated with the ROS-generators menadione and 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone display increased free labile iron. HeLa cells exposed to ROS undergo apoptosis but iron chelation limits the extent of cell death suggesting the rise in intracellular iron plays a signaling role in this pathway. This idea is supported by the fact that iron chelation also alters the pattern of ROS-induced phosphorylation of stress-activated protein kinases SAPK/JNK and p38 MAPK. Thus, ROS-induced increases in cellular free iron contribute to signaling events triggered during oxidative stress response.     

JNK signaling confers tolerance to oxidative stress and extends lifespan in Drosophila

Changes in the genetic makeup of an organism can extend lifespan significantly if they promote tolerance to environmental insults and thus prevent the general deterioration of cellular function that is associated with aging. Here, we introduce the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway as a genetic determinant of aging in Drosophila melanogaster. Based on expression profiling experiments, we demonstrate that JNK functions at the center of a signal transduction network that coordinates the induction of protective genes in response to oxidative challenge. JNK signaling activity thus alleviates the toxic effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, we show that flies with mutations that augment JNK signaling accumulate less oxidative damage and live dramatically longer than wild-type flies. Our work thus identifies the evolutionarily conserved JNK signaling pathway as a major genetic factor in the control of longevity.     

Reactive oxygen species mediate crosstalk between NF-kappaB and JNK

The activation of NF-kappaB inhibits apoptosis via a mechanism involving upregulation of various antiapoptotic genes, such as cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP), Bcl-xL, A1/Bfl-1, and X chromosome-liked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP). In contrast, the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) promotes apoptosis in a manner that is dependent on the cell type and the context of the stimulus. Recent studies have indicated that one of the antiapoptotic functions of NF-kappaB is to downregulate JNK activation. Further studies have also revealed that NF-kappaB inhibits JNK activation by suppressing accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this review, we will focus on the signaling crosstalk between the NF-kappaB and JNK cascades via ROS.     

Reactive oxygen species stimulated human hepatoma cell proliferation via cross-talk between PI3-K/PKB and JNK signaling pathways

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important for intracellular signaling mechanisms regulating many cellular processes. Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) may regulate cell growth by changing the level of intracellular ROS. In our study, we investigated the effect of ROS on 7721 human hepatoma cell proliferation. Treatment with H2O2 (1-10 microM) or transfection with antisense MnSOD cDNA constructs significantly increased the cell proliferation. Recently, the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) and the protein kinase B (PKB) were proposed to be involved in cell growth. Accordingly, we assessed the ability of ROS to activate MAPK and PKB. PKB and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were both rapidly and transiently activated by 10 microM H2O2, but the activities of p38 MAPK and JNK were not changed. ROS-induced PKB activation was abrogated by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) inhibitor LY294002, suggesting that PI3-K is an upstream mediator of PKB activation in 7721 cells. Transfection with sense PKB cDNA promoted c-fos and c-jun expression in 7721 cells, suggesting that ROS may regulate c-fos and c-jun expression via the PKB pathway. Furthermore we found that exogenous H2O2 could stimulate the proliferation of PKB-AS7721 cells transfected with antisense PKB cDNA, which was partly dependent on JNK activation, suggesting that H2O2 stimulated hepatoma cell proliferation via cross-talk between the PI3-K/PKB and the JNK signaling pathways. However, insulin could stimulate 7721 cell proliferation, which is independent of cross-talk between PI3-K/PKB and JNK pathways. In addition, H2O2 did not induce the cross-talk between the PI3-K/PKB and the JNK pathways in normal liver cells. Taken together, we found that ROS regulate hepatoma cell growth via specific signaling pathways (cross-talk between PI3-K/PKB and JNK pathway) which may provide a novel clue to elucidate the mechanism of hepatoma carcinogenesis.     

Concentration-dependent dual effects of hydrogen peroxide on insulin signal transduction in H4IIEC hepatocytes

Background

Oxidative stress induced by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has a causal role in the development of insulin resistance, whereas ROS themselves function as intracellular second messengers that promote insulin signal transduction. ROS can act both positively and negatively on insulin signaling, but the molecular mechanisms controlling these dual actions of ROS are not fully understood.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Here, we directly treated H4IIEC hepatocytes with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a representative membrane-permeable oxidant and the most abundant ROS in cells, to identify the key factors determining whether ROS impair or enhance intracellular insulin signaling. Treatment with high concentrations of H2O2 (25–50 µM) for 3 h reduced insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation, and increased the phosphorylation of both JNK and its substrate c-Jun. In contrast, lower concentrations of H2O2 (5–10 µM) enhanced insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt. Moreover, lower concentrations suppressed PTP1B activity, suggesting that JNK and phosphatases such as PTP1B may play roles in determining the thresholds for the diametrical effects of H2O2 on cellular insulin signaling. Pretreatment with antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (10 mM) canceled the signal-promoting action of low H2O2 (5 µM), and it canceled out further impairment of insulin of insulin signaling induced by high H₂O₂ (25 µM).

Conclusions/Significance

Our results demonstrate that depending on its concentration, H2O2 can have the positive or negative effect on insulin signal transduction in H4IIEC hepatocytes, suggesting that the concentration of intracellular ROS may be a major factor in determining whether ROS impair or enhance insulin signaling.