MAPK/ERK pathway

The MAPK/ERK pathway (also known as the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK pathway) is a chain of proteins in the cell that communicates a signal from a receptor on the surface of the cell to the DNA in the nucleus of the cell.

The signal starts when a signaling molecule binds to the receptor on the cell surface and ends when the DNA in the nucleus expresses a protein and produces some change in the cell, such as cell division. The pathway includes many proteins, such as mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), originally called extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), which communicate by adding phosphate groups to a neighboring protein (phosphorylating it), thereby acting as an "on" or "off" switch.

When one of the proteins in the pathway is mutated, it can become stuck in the "on" or "off" position, a necessary step in the development of many cancers. In fact, components of the MAPK/ERK pathway were first discovered in cancer cells, and drugs that reverse the "on" or "off" switch are being investigated as cancer treatments.

Background

The signal that starts the MAPK/ERK pathway is the binding of extracellular mitogen to a cell surface receptor. This allows a Ras protein (a Small GTPase) to swap a GDP molecule for a GTP molecule, flipping the "on/off switch" of the pathway. The Ras protein can then activate MAP3K (e.g., Raf), which activates MAP2K, which activates MAPK. Finally, MAPK can activate a transcription factor, such as Myc. This process is described in more detail below.

Ras activation

Receptor-linked tyrosine kinases, such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), are activated by extracellular ligands, such as the epidermal growth factor (EGF).