title: Effects of glucocorticoids on activation of c-jun N-terminal, extracellular signal-regulated, and p38 MAP kinases in human pulmonary endothelial cells.
abstract: Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) play a central role in signal transduction by regulating many nuclear transcription factors involved in inflammatory, immune, and proliferative responses. The aim of this study was to investigate, in human pulmonary endothelial cells, the effects of synthetic glucocorticosteroids on activation of c-jun N-terminal kinases, extracellular signal-regulated kinases, and p38 subgroups of the MAPK family. Human microvascular endothelial cells from lung were stimulated for 2 h with either H(2)O(2) (2 mM), IL-1beta (10 ng/mL), or tumour necrosis factor-alpha (10 ng/mL). Under these conditions, a remarkable increase in the phosphorylation pattern of c-jun N-terminal kinases, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2, and p38 was detected. Pretreatment for 12 h with dexamethasone (100 nM) was able to prevent phosphorylation-dependent MAPK activation in stimulated cells, without substantially affecting the expression levels of these enzymes. Our results suggest that inhibition of MAPK signaling pathways in human pulmonary endothelial cells may significantly contribute, by interfering with activation of several different transcription factors, to the antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of glucocorticosteroids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacobiological Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy. pelaia@unicz.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pelaia
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cuda
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vatrella
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Grembiale
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Sarro
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maselli
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Costanzo
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Avvedimento
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rotiroti
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Marsico
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003907:Dexamethasone; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases