title: c-Jun N-terminal kinase but not mitogen-activated protein kinase is sensitive to cAMP inhibition in T lymphocytes.
abstract: The molecular mechanism underlying the cAMP inhibition of nuclear activation events in T lymphocytes is unknown. Recently, the activation of fibroblasts and muscle cells are shown to be antagonized by cAMP through the inhibition of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases signaling pathway. Whether a similar antagonism may account for the late inhibitory effect of cAMP in T cell was examined. Surprisingly, extracellular signal regulated kinase 2 (ERK1, ERK2, and ERK3) of MAP kinase were poorly inhibited by cAMP. High concentration of cAMP also only weakly antagonized Raf-1 in T cells. The resistance of ERK and Raf-1 to cAMP clearly distinguishes T cells from fibroblasts. In contrast, another MAP kinase homologue c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) was inhibited by cAMP in good correlation with that of IL-2 suppression. Moreover, JNK was antagonized by a delayed kinetics which is characteristic of cAMP inhibition. Despite that both ERK and JNK are essential for T cell activation, selective inhibition by cAMP further supports the specific role of JNK in T cell activation.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Hsueh
authors.forename: M Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000494:pharmacology*; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D007700:Kinetics; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases