title: SP600125, an inhibitor of c-jun N-terminal kinase, activates CREB by a p38 MAPK-mediated pathway.
abstract: SP600125, an anthrapyrazolone inhibitor of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), has been used to characterize the role of JNK in apoptotic pathways. In this study, we have demonstrated an additional novel anti-apoptotic action of this inhibitor in MIN6 cells, a mouse beta cell line. SP600125 induced CREB-dependent promoter activation by 2.8-fold at 20 microM, the concentration at which it inhibited c-jun-dependent promoter activation by 51%. There was a significant (P<0.01) increase in CREB phosphorylation (serine 133) at 5 min, which persisted for a period of 2h. Examination of signaling pathways upstream of CREB showed a 2.5-fold increase in the active phospho form of p38 MAPK. This finding was further confirmed by an in vitro kinase assay using ATF-2 as substrate. SB203580, an inhibitor of p38 MAPK, partially blocked SP600125-mediated activation of CREB. These observations suggest that SP600125 could be used as a small molecular weight activator of CREB.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO 80262, USA.
authors.forename: Dhara
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vaishnav
authors.forename: Purevsuren
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jambal
authors.forename: Jane E-B
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Reusch
authors.forename: Subbiah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pugazhenthi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000873:Anthracenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D051379:Mice; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology; D012694:Serine / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
chemical_list: D000873:Anthracenes; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007093:Imidazoles; D011725:Pyridines; C432165:pyrazolanthrone; D012694:Serine; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C093642:SB 203580