Muta Yu, Matsuda Michiyuki, Imajo Masamichi
Department of Pathology and Biology of Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8051, Japan.
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Cancers (Basel). 2019 Apr 10;11(4):513. doi: 10.3390/cancers11040513.
The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway regulates a variety of biological processes including cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation. Since ERK activation promotes proliferation of many types of cells, its deregulated/constitutive activation is among general mechanisms for cancer. Recent advances in bioimaging techniques have enabled to visualize ERK activity in real-time at the single-cell level. Emerging evidence from such approaches suggests unexpectedly complex spatiotemporal dynamics of ERK activity in living cells and animals and their crucial roles in determining cellular responses. In this review, we discuss how ERK activity dynamics are regulated and how they affect biological processes including cell fate decisions, cell migration, embryonic development, tissue homeostasis, and tumorigenesis.
细胞外信号调节激酶（ERK）信号通路调控多种生物学过程，包括细胞增殖、存活和分化。由于ERK激活促进多种类型细胞的增殖，其失调/组成性激活是癌症的常见机制之一。生物成像技术的最新进展使得在单细胞水平实时可视化ERK活性成为可能。来自这些方法的新证据表明，活细胞和动物中ERK活性的时空动态出人意料地复杂，并且它们在决定细胞反应中起关键作用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了ERK活性动态是如何被调控的，以及它们如何影响包括细胞命运决定、细胞迁移、胚胎发育、组织稳态和肿瘤发生在内的生物学过程。
