MAPK/ERK Pathway as a Central Regulator in Vertebrate Organ Regeneration

Damage to organs by trauma, infection, diseases, congenital defects, aging, and other injuries causes organ malfunction and is life-threatening under serious conditions. Some of the lower order vertebrates such as zebrafish, salamanders, and chicks possess superior organ regenerative capacity over mammals. The extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), as key members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, are serine/threonine protein kinases that are phylogenetically conserved among vertebrate taxa. MAPK/ERK signaling is an irreplaceable player participating in diverse biological activities through phosphorylating a broad variety of substrates in the cytoplasm as well as inside the nucleus. Current evidence supports a central role of the MAPK/ERK pathway during organ regeneration processes. MAPK/ERK signaling is rapidly excited in response to injury stimuli and coordinates essential pro-regenerative cellular events including cell survival, cell fate turnover, migration, proliferation, growth, and transcriptional and translational activities. In this literature review, we recapitulated the multifaceted MAPK/ERK signaling regulations, its dynamic spatio-temporal activities, and the profound roles during multiple organ regeneration, including appendages, heart, liver, eye, and peripheral/central nervous system, illuminating the possibility of MAPK/ERK signaling as a critical mechanism underlying the vastly differential regenerative capacities among vertebrate species, as well as its potential applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.