Review
The roles of ASK family proteins in stress responses and diseases
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* Corresponding author: Hidenori Ichijo ichijo@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Cell Communication and Signaling 2009, 7:9 doi:10.1186/1478-811X-7-9
Published: 24 April 2009Abstract
Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase family, which activates c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38 in response to a diverse array of stresses such as oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress and calcium influx. In the past decade, various regulatory mechanisms of ASK1 have been elucidated, including its oxidative stress-dependent activation. Recently, it has emerged that ASK family proteins play key roles in cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we summarize the recent findings on ASK family proteins and their implications in various diseases.