Yoshimura Koichi, Aoki Hiroki, Ikeda Yasuhiro, Furutani Akira, Hamano Kimikazu, Matsuzaki Masunori
Department of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Minami Kogushi, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-8505, Japan.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Nov;1085:403-6. doi: 10.1196/annals.1383.049.
Despite the advances in molecular cell biology, identification of a therapeutic target in a given disease still poses a significant challenge. Here we report a strategy for identification of the therapeutic target in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We screened for various signaling molecules in human AAA samples and identified c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) as a prominently activated molecule. The JNK pathway-oriented transcriptome analyses revealed that activation of JNK leads to enhancement of the activity of matrix metalloproteinases and, concurrently, suppression of the extracellular matrix biosynthesis, suggesting that JNK may represent a novel therapeutic target in AAA.
尽管分子细胞生物学取得了进展，但在特定疾病中鉴定治疗靶点仍然是一项重大挑战。在此，我们报告一种鉴定腹主动脉瘤（AAA）治疗靶点的策略。我们在人类AAA样本中筛选了各种信号分子，并确定c-Jun氨基末端激酶（JNK）是一种显著激活的分子。以JNK通路为导向的转录组分析表明，JNK的激活导致基质金属蛋白酶活性增强，同时抑制细胞外基质生物合成，这表明JNK可能是AAA的一个新的治疗靶点。
