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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 18, 2006, 26(3):971-980; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4423-05.2006
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Cellular/Molecular
A Signaling Mechanism from G q-Protein-Coupled Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors to Gene Expression: Role of the c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Pathway
Lu Yang,1
Limin Mao,1
Hai Chen,1
Michael Catavsan,1
Jonathan Kozinn,2
Anish Arora,1
Xianyu Liu,1 and
John Q. Wang1,2
Departments of 1Basic Medical Science and 2Anesthesiology, University of MissouriKansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri 64108
G q-protein-coupled group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are densely expressed in brain neurons and are actively involved in various cellular activities. In this study, we investigated the role of group I mGluRs in regulating the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/stress-activated protein kinase in cultured neurons. We found that selective activation of mGluR5 induced a rapid and transient phosphorylation of JNK. In a series of studies to determine the mechanisms, we found that the conventional mGluR5-associated signaling pathways (inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate-mediated Ca2+ release and activation of protein kinase C) were not involved in the mGluR5 regulation. Instead, ligand stimulation of mGluR5 caused a dynamic transactivation of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, which in turn triggered a downstream signaling pathway to upregulate JNK phosphorylation. Furthermore, the mGluR5-dependent JNK activation specifically activated c-Jun, but not activating transcription factor-2 or JunD, and increased activator protein-1 (AP-1)-mediated endogenous transcriptional activity. Together, we identified a novel mGluR5-to-nucleus communication through the EGF/JNK pathway, which functions to regulate AP-1-mediated transcription.
Key words: mGluR; MAPK; JNK; SAPK; Jun; MKK; AP-1; EGF; striatum; nucleus accumbens
Received Oct 17, 2005;
accepted December 1, 2005.
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