The double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase R (PKR) has been invoked in different signaling pathways. In cells pre-exposed to the PKR inhibitor 2-aminopurine or in PKR-null cells, the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) following dsRNA stimulation is attenuated. We found that the p38 MAPK activator MKK6, but not its close relatives MKK3 or MKK4, exhibited an increased affinity for PKR following the exposure of cells to poly(rI:rC), a dsRNA analog. In vitro kinase assays revealed that MKK6 was efficiently phosphorylated by PKR, and this could be inhibited by 2-aminopurine.
Expression of kinase-inactive PKR (K296R) in cells inhibited the poly(IC)-induced phosphorylation of MKK3/6 detected by phosphospecific antiserum but did not affect the poly(IC)-induced gel migration retardation of MKK3.This suggests that poly(IC)-mediated in vivo activation of MKK6, but not MKK3, is through PKR. Consistent with this observation, PKR was capable of activating MKK6 as assessed in a coupled kinase assay containing the components of the p38 MAPK pathway. Our results indicate that the interaction of MKK6 and PKR provides a mechanism for regulating p38 MAPK activation in response to dsRNA stimulation. Double-stranded RNAs (dsRNA) 1 formed during virus infection can be potent stimulating agents triggering cellular responses through distinct targets and pathways. DsRNA-dependent interferon synthesis as well as NF-B activation may require the binding of dsRNA with cellular membrane component(s) that includes Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR-3) (1). However, other dsRNA sensor cellular components have also been implicated in the activation of cellular pathways triggered by dsRNA (2-4).The dsRNA-dependent protein PKR is a serine/threonine kinase, the expression of which is induced by interferons. This enzyme is activated in response to dsRNA of viral or synthetic origin, most notably the synthetic polyribonucleotide duplex, poly(rI):poly(rC) (pIC), and also by cytokines and cellular stress signals (5). Once activated, PKR functions as one of the mediators of antiviral and antiproliferative activities of interferons (6 -12). PKR has two double-stranded RNA-binding motifs located in the NH 2 -terminal domain (5, 13), which bind pIC or viral dsRNA intermediates generated during a viral infection and also permit the recruitment of other dsRNA-binding domain-containing proteins (14, 15). The carboxyl-terminal half of PKR harbors the kinase catalytic domain (9). On binding dsRNA, PKR dimerizes and undergoes autophosphorylation at multiple sites (5, 16). The direct antiviral activity of PKR is a consequence of the phosphorylation and activation of its major substrate eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF2␣, thereby inhibiting protein synthesis and impeding virus multiplication (6,10,12).In addition to playing a role in protein synthesis inhibition, PKR also functions in other biological processes including apoptosis, transcriptional regulation, and cell growth, independent of the phosphorylation of eIF2␣ (5). ...