title: Stress induces activation of stress-activated kinases in the mouse brain.
abstract: Stress is a part of daily life. However, molecular mechanisms underlying the activation of limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis remains unknown. In this study, we explored whether activation of the mitogen-activated kinase kinase 4 (MKK4)-c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway may play a role in the activation of the LHPA axis. We found that forced-swim stress induced elevation of activated MKK4 in the hippocampal formation, amygdala, and hypothalamus. Unlike MKK4, a high basal level of JNK activity is present in many brain areas of unstressed mice. Forced-swim stress significantly elevated JNK activity in the hypothalamus and amygdala and, to a lesser extent, in the cortex, CA1 and CA3 regions, and the dentate gyrus. To further investigate the role of MKK4 and JNK in induction of stress responses, we investigated whether a different stress, namely, restraint stress, induced activation of MKK4 or JNK in the brain. We found that restraint stress also induced elevation of activated MKK4 and JNK in the hippocampal formation, amygdala, and hypothalamus. Because MKK4 and JNK were activated within 5 min following stress, we propose that the MKK4-JNK signaling may be an early neural event in the initiation of neuroendocrine, autonomic and behavioral stress responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts 02118, USA. yafliu@bu.edu
authors.forename: Ya Fang
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bertram
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perides
authors.forename: Bruce S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: McEwen
authors.forename: Dechun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000201:enzymology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000201:enzymology; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000201:enzymology; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000502:physiology; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000201:enzymology; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000201:enzymology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000201:enzymology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4; C482562:Map2k4 protein, mouse; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases