A novel dual specificity phosphatase SKRP1 interacts with the MAPK kinase MKK7 and inactivates the JNK MAPK pathway. Implication for the precise regulation of the particular MAPK pathway.

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are activated in response to various extracellular stimuli, and their activities are regulated by upstream activating kinases and protein phosphatases such as MAPK phosphatases (MKPs). We report the identification and characterization of a novel MKP termed SKRP1 (SAPK pathway-regulating phosphatase 1). It contains an extended active site sequence motif conserved in all MKPs but lacks a Cdc25 homology domain. Immunoblotting analysis revealed that SKRP1 is constitutively expressed, and its transcripts of 4.0 and 1.0 kb were detected in almost tissues examined. SKRP1 was highly specific for c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in vitro and effectively suppressed the JNK activation in response to tumor necrosis factor alpha or thapsigargin. Endogenous SKRP1 was present predominantly in the cytoplasm and co-localized with JNK. However, SKRP1 does not bind directly to its target JNK, but co-precipitation of SKRP1 with the MAPK kinase MKK7, a JNK activator, was found in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we found that SKRP1 did not interfere with the co-precipitation of MKK7 with JNK. Together, our findings indicate that SKRP1 interacts with its physiological substrate JNK through MKK7, thereby leading to the precise regulation of JNK activity in vivo.