Overview:

MAPKAPK2 (MAPKAP kinase2) is a Ser/Thr protein kinase which is regulated via direct phosphorylation by p38 MAP kinase (1). In conjunction with p38 MAP kinase, MAPKAPK2 is known to be involved in many cellular processes including stress and inflammatory responses, nuclear export, gene expression regulation and cell proliferation. MAPKAPK3 is closely related to MAPKAPK2 sharing 72% nucleotide and 75% amino acid identity (2). MAPKAPK3 is activated by growth inducers and stress stimulation of cells. In vitro studies demonstrated that ERK, p38 MAP kinase and Jun N-terminal kinase were all able to phosphorylate and activate this kinase, which suggested the role of MAPKAPK3 as an integrative element of signaling in both mitogen and stress responses (3).

References:

1. Stokoe, D. et al: The substrate specificity and structure of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase-activated protein kinase-2. Biochem. J. 296: 843-849, 1993.

2. Sithanandam, G. et al: 3pK a new mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase located in the small cell lung cancer tumor suppressor gene region. Molec. Cell. Biol. 16: 868-876, 1996. 3. Ludwig, S. et al: 3pK, a novel mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase-activated protein kinase, is targeted by three MAP kinase pathways. Molec. Cell. Biol. 16: 6687-6697, 1996.