Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về sinh học được đăng trên tạp chí sinh học Journal of Biology đề tài: Distinct functions for ERKs? | J. Biol. Journal of Biology BioMed Central Minireview Distinct functions for ERKs Alison C Lloyd Address MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and Department of Biochemistry University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT UK. Email Published 19 July 2006 Journal of Biology 2006 5 13 The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at http content 5 5 13 2006 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract The Ras Raf MEK ERK signaling pathway is one of the best understood signal routes in cells. Recent studies add complexity to this cascade by indicating that the two ERK kinases ERK1 p44ERK1 and ERK2 p42ERK2 may have distinct functions. An important intracellular signaling module leads from the small GTPase Ras through a cascade of protein kinases - Raf MEK and the extracellular signal regulated kinase ERK. Signaling through the Ras Raf MEK ERK pathway has been implicated in many cellular processes including proliferation differentiation survival metabolism and morphology. Deregulation of the pathway has been associated with various pathologies most notably with proliferative disorders such as cancer but also more recently with specific developmental abnormalities 1 2 . It is becoming increasingly clear that the temporal regulation of this pathway is critical for determining the signal output. A well known example of this is seen in pheochromocytoma-derived PC12 cells in which a transient activation of the pathway is associated with proliferation whereas sustained activation drives differentiation into neuronal-like cells 3 . Further evidence from a detailed study of Drosophila eye development has indicated that different thresholds of ERK activity result in distinct outcomes in vivo low and high levels of Ras Raf ERK activity are associated with the promotion of cell survival and differentiation respectively 4 . There are many other such examples in other cell types and diverse organisms 5-7 . Preliminary .
