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Primer: signal transduction in rheumatic disease--a clinician's guide

Susan E Sweeney1, Gary S Firestein

  • 1Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, University of California San Diego, Department of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0656, USA. ssweeney@ucsd.edu

Nature Clinical Practice. Rheumatology
|October 31, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Cellular signaling pathways, involving kinases, regulate gene expression for cell adaptation. Understanding these pathways in chronic inflammatory diseases could lead to new treatments targeting cytokine production.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Cellular signaling pathways are crucial for responding to environmental stimuli.
  • Kinases drive downstream signaling cascades initiated by extracellular ligands binding to cell surface receptors.
  • Altered cellular signaling is implicated in various chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the role of intracellular signaling pathways in cellular responses to stimuli.
  • To identify key signaling cascades involved in inflammation and autoimmunity.
  • To highlight the therapeutic potential of understanding these pathways for treating inflammatory diseases.

Main Methods:

  • Review of established knowledge on cellular signaling mechanisms.
  • Identification of key enzymes (kinases) and transcription factors involved in signaling cascades.
  • Analysis of signaling pathways implicated in inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.

Main Results:

  • Signaling pathways involve ligand-receptor interactions, kinase activation, and transcription factor modulation of gene expression.
  • Specific pathways like MAPK, NF-κB, IRF, TLR, NLR, inflammasome, and PI3K are critical in inflammation.
  • These pathways ultimately enable cells to adapt to stimuli.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding intracellular signaling pathways is vital for comprehending inflammatory diseases.
  • Targeting these pathways offers potential for novel therapeutic strategies.
  • Orally bioavailable small molecules could be developed to regulate cytokine function and production for disease treatment.

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