title: The Caenorhabditis elegans JNK signaling pathway activates expression of stress response genes by derepressing the Fos/HDAC repressor complex.
abstract: MAP kinases are integral to the mechanisms by which cells respond to a wide variety of environmental stresses. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the KGB-1 JNK signaling pathway regulates the response to heavy metal stress. In this study, we identified FOS-1, a bZIP transcription factor, as a target of KGB-1-mediated phosphorylation. We further identified two transcriptional targets of the KGB-1 pathway, kreg-1 and kreg-2/lys-3, which are required for the defense against heavy metal stress. FOS-1 plays a critical role in the transcriptional repression of the kreg-1 gene by recruiting histone deacetylase (HDAC) to its promoter. KGB-1 phosphorylation prevents FOS-1 dimerization and promoter binding, resulting in promoter derepression. Thus, HDAC behaves as a co-repressor modulating FOS-1-mediated transcriptional regulation. This study describes the direct link from JNK signaling, Fos phosphorylation, and regulation of kreg gene transcription, which modulates the stress response in C. elegans.
authors: Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
authors: Ayuna
authors: A
authors: Hattori
authors: Tomoaki
authors: T
authors: Mizuno
authors: Mayuko
authors: M
authors: Akamatsu
authors: Naoki
authors: N
authors: Hisamoto
authors: Kunihiro
authors: K
authors: Matsumoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006655:Histone Deacetylases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C520083:FOS-1 protein, C elegans; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C524496:KGB-1 protein, C elegans; D006655:Histone Deacetylases