Regulation of the activity and expression of ERK8 by DNA damage

  • FEBS Lett. 2009 Feb 18;583(4):680-4. doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.01.011.
Iva V Klevernic  1 ,  Niall M B Martin ,  Philip Cohen
Affiliations
  • 1. MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, DD1 5EH Scotland, UK.
PMID: 19166846 DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.01.011
Abstract

We have investigated the agonists that activate transfected extracellular signal-regulated kinase 8 (ERK8) in cells, and have found that the most potent activators are hydrogen peroxide, DNA alkylating and cross-linking agents and the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor KU-0058948. The feature shared by all these agents is that they lead to the accumulation of single strand breaks in DNA, suggesting a role for ERK8 in the response to, or repair of, DNA single strand breaks. The DNA alkylating agent MMS also induced the disappearance of endogenous ERK8 by a proteasome-dependent mechanism.