title: TAK1-mediated induction of nitric oxide synthase gene expression in glial cells.
abstract: Inflammatory cell signaling leading to transcriptional activation is primarily mediated by signal transduction via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and NFkappaB pathways. A common upstream kinase that signals the activation of these pathways is TGFbeta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), which itself becomes activated in response to cytokines and upon engagement of a class of cell surface receptors involved in innate immunity, that is Toll-like receptors (TLRs) by bacterial and viral pathogens. This study directly tests the role of TAK1 in the induction of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) in glial cells, which represent immune-regulatory cells of the CNS, by transient transfection assays. Transfection of C-6 glia, primary astrocytes and a rat microglial cell line with TAK1 (but not its inactive form) along with its activator protein, TAK1-binding protein 1 (TAB1) resulted in a marked stimulation of a co-transfected rat iNOS promoter-reporter construct (iNOS-Luc). TAK1-induced iNOS-Luc activity was substantially inhibited by pharmacological inhibitors of the known downstream kinases, p38 MAPK and JNK (SB203580 and SP620125), and was almost completely blocked by co-expression of a phosphorylation mutant of IkappaB. TAK1/TAB1 also induced the production of NO and the expression of iNOS in microglial cells in a p38 MAPK-, JNK- and NFkappaB-dependent manner. The results of these studies provide evidence for an important role for TAK1-mediated intracellular signaling, via p38 MAPK, JNK and NFkappaB, in the transcriptional activation of iNOS in glial cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA. bhatnr@musc.edu
authors.forename: Narayan R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D020930:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D017628:Microglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D051381:Rats; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D014162:Transfection; D000099151:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinase 7
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D020930:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases; D016328:NF-kappa B; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D000099151:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinase 7; C099510:TAB1 protein, MAPKKK activator, vertebrate; C496318:Nos2 protein, rat