Title

Computational prediction and analysis of impact of the cross-talks between JNK and P38 kinase cascades

Authors

Pandurangan Sundaramurthy¹, Sunita Gakkhar¹ and Ramanathan Sowdhamini^2, *

Affiliation

¹Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee - 247667, Uttarakhand, India; ²National Center for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, UAS-GKVK campus, Bellary Road, Bangalore - 560 065, India

Email

mini@ncbs.res.in; * Corresponding author

Article Type

Hypothesis

Date

received November 04, 2008; accepted November 30, 2008; published January 12, 2009

Abstract

Signal transduction is a complex protein signaling process with a rich network of multifunctional interactions that occur in non-linear fashion. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction pathways regulate diverse cellular processes ranging from proliferation and differentiation to apoptosis. In mammals, out of five, there are three well characterized subfamilies of MAPKs - ERKs (Extracellular signal-regulated kinases), JNKs (c-Jun N-terminal kinases), and P38 kinases, and their activators, are implicated in human diseases and are targets for drug development. Kinase cascades in MAPK pathways mediate the sensing and processing of stimuli. To understand how cells makes decisions, the dynamic interactions of components of signaling cascades are important rather than just creating static maps. Based on enzyme kinetic reactions, we have developed a mathematical model to analyze the impact of the cross-talks between JNK and P38 kinase cascades. Cross-talks between JNK and P38 kinase cascades influence the activities of P38 kinases. Responses of the signals should be studied for network of kinase cascades by considering cross-talks.

Keywords

cross-talks; dynamic pathway modeling; JNK and P38 kinase cascades; signaling pathways
 

Citation

Sundaramurthy et al., Bioinformation 3(6): 250-254 (2009)

Edited by

P. Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.