title: Lack of p38 MAP kinase activation in TRAIL-resistant cells is not related to the resistance to TRAIL-mediated cell death.
abstract: Activation of MAP kinases is involved in various cellular processes, including immunoregulation, inflammation, cell growth, cell differentiation, and cell death. To investigate the role of p38 MAP kinase activation in the signaling pathway of TRAIL-mediated apoptosis, we compared TRAIL-mediated MAP kinase activation in TRAIL-susceptible human colon cancer cell line DLD1 and TRAIL-resistant DLD1/TRAIL-R cells. TRAIL-mediated activation of ERK occurred in both cell lines. In contrast, both DLD1 and DLD1/TRAIL-R cells showed no obvious JNK activation after treatment with TRAIL. Interestingly, TRAIL-mediated activation of p38 MAP kinases was observed in DLD1 cells but not in DLD1/TRAIL-R cells. However, activation of p38 MAP kinases was observed in both DLD1 and DLD1/TRAIL-R cells after treatment with anisomycin. Furthermore, inhibiting activated p38 MAP kinases with known inhibitors or with an adenovector expressing dominant negative p38alpha did not block TRAIL-mediated cell death in DLD1 cells. Moreover, activation of p38 MAP kinases by adenovectors expressing constitutive MKK3 or MKK6 (Ad/MKK3bE or Ad/MKK6bE) did not induce cell death in either DLD1 or DLD1/TRAIL-R cell lines. Our results suggest that activation of p38 MAP kinases does not play a major role in TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in DLD1 cells and that lack of TRAIL-mediated p38 MAP kinase activation may not be the mechanism of TRAIL-resistance in DLD1/TRAIL-R cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Lidong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Shuhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Fuminori
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Teraishi
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: Yibin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bingliang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019014:fas Receptor; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; C505653:TNFSF10 protein, human; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D019014:fas Receptor; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases