title: MAP kinase pathways activated by stress: the p38 MAPK pathway.
abstract: A stress-activated serine/threonine protein kinase, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), belongs to the MAP kinase superfamily. Diverse extracellular stimuli, including ultraviolet light, irradiation, heat shock, high osmotic stress, proinflammatory cytokines and certain mitogens, trigger a stress-regulated protein kinase cascade culminating in activation of p38 MAPK through phosphorylation on a TGY motif within the kinase activation loop. p38 MAPK appears to play a major role in apoptosis, cytokine production, transcriptional regulation, and cytoskeletal reorganization, and has been causally implicated in sepsis, ischemic heart disease, arthritis, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and Alzheimer's disease. The availability of specific inhibitors helps to clarify the role that p38 MAPK plays in these processes, and may ultimately offer therapeutic benefit for certain critically ill patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Obata
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Yaffe
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D016638:Critical Illness; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology*; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases