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A Guide to Production, Crystallization, and Structure Determination of Human IKK1/α
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Published on: November 2, 2018

Signaling pathways leading to the activation of IKK and MAPK by thymosin alpha1

Xiao Peng1, Ping Zhang, Xin Wang

  • 1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|June 15, 2007
PubMed

Thymosin alpha 1 (Talpha1) has therapeutic potential in the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer. However, the exact molecular pathways for Talpha1 action are not fully understood. We found that Talpha1 induces the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, and IL-12 in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) through IKK and MAPK pathways. Talpha1 triggers the activation of AP-1 and the phosphorylation of JNK and p38. Inhibition of p38 impairs IL-6 production in response to Talpha1. Further, TRAF6 is involved in the activation of JNK and IRAK4 is involved for the activation of IKK and PKCzeta in a Talpha1-induced system. Loss of IRAK4 largely blocked induction of IL-6. Thus, our studies define early signal events that are critical for the Talpha1-induced immune responses.

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