title: Stress activated protein kinase p38 is involved in IL-6 induced transcriptional activation of STAT3.
abstract: The pleiotropic cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) induces acute phase protein expression in HepG2 human hepatoma cells and promotes the growth of mouse B9 hybridoma. The signaling cascades leading to these biological functions are only partially known. We analysed the involvement of MAPK homologues in IL-6 transduction pathways and found that interleukin-6 triggered activation of p38 stress-activated protein kinase (p38) but not of jun kinase. p38 activity was required for biological functions including acute phase protein secretion from HepG2 hepatoma and proliferation of B9 hybridoma cells. Using a reporter gene construct containing a 190 bp promoter fragment of the acute phase protein haptoglobin we found that p38 is involved in transcriptional activation of the haptoglobin promoter by STAT3 but not by NF-IL6. Thus, we present evidence for a role of p38 in IL-6 induced functions and a possible cross-talk between this MAPK homologue and the STAT pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zauberman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zipori
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krupsky
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ben-Levy
mesh_terms: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006242:Haptoglobins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
chemical_list: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D006242:Haptoglobins; D007093:Imidazoles; D015850:Interleukin-6; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011725:Pyridines; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human; C494087:Stat3 protein, mouse; D015534:Trans-Activators; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C093642:SB 203580