title: The inhibition of ERK/MAPK not the activation of JNK/SAPK is primarily required to induce apoptosis in chronic myelogenous leukemic K562 cells.
abstract: In this study, the downstream signaling of Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase responsible for apoptosis resistance was investigated. DNA fragmentation, a hallmark of apoptosis, was observed after 2 days of herbimycin A treatment with a peak on 3 day. During the apoptosis induced by the treatment of herbimycin A, stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) and p38 kinase were activated time- and dose-dependently, while extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) was inhibited. However, apoptosis was induced by the treatment of PD98059, a specific inhibitor of MEK (MAPK or ERK kinase), not by the treatment of sorbitol, a strong activator of SAPK and p38 kinase. Although K562 cells were very resistant to sorbitol-induced apoptosis, DNA fragmentation was induced rapidly in Jurkat, HL-60 and U937 cells after exposure to sorbitol, despite that these apoptosis-sensitive cells have similar or lower activities of JNK/SAPK and p38 kinase compared with K562 cells after treatment of sorbitol. K562 cells had a much higher basal activity of ERK/MAPK than other apoptosis-sensitive cell lines, which were very susceptible to apoptosis induced by low dose of PD98059 compared with K562 cells. In HL-60 cells, sorbitol-induced apoptosis was prevented by the treatment of phorbol myristate 13-acetate (PMA), which activates the ERK/MAPK pathway, and this was blocked by PD98059. From these results, it could be suggested that the inhibition of ERK/MAPK not the activation of JNK/SAPK is primarily required to induce apoptosis in K562 cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, 1 Ga 10 Ami-Dong, Seo-Gu, Pusan, South Korea. kcdshbw@hyowon.pusan.ac.kr
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D016227:Benzoquinones; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020014:K562 Cells; D047029:Lactams, Macrocyclic; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011809:Quinones / Q000494:pharmacology; D017828:Rifabutin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
chemical_list: D016227:Benzoquinones; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D005419:Flavonoids; D047029:Lactams, Macrocyclic; D011809:Quinones; D017828:Rifabutin; C020754:herbimycin; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C093973:2-(2-amino-3-methoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one