title: A conserved p38 MAP kinase pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans innate immunity.
abstract: A genetic screen for Caenorhabditis elegans mutants with enhanced susceptibility to killing by Pseudomonas aeruginosa led to the identification of two genes required for pathogen resistance: sek-1, which encodes a mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase, and nsy-1, which encodes a MAP kinase kinase kinase. RNA interference assays and biochemical analysis established that a p38 ortholog, pmk-1, functions as the downstream MAP kinase required for pathogen defense. These data suggest that this MAP kinase signaling cassette represents an ancient feature of innate immune responses in evolutionarily diverse species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Rhonda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feinbaum
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alloing
authors.forename: Fred E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: Danielle A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Garsin
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka-Hino
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hisamoto
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Man-Wah
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Frederick M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ausubel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C463460:Pmk-1 protein, C elegans; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C445123:pmk-2 protein, C elegans; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases