ArticleCell death & disease2019
Thr55 phosphorylation of p21 by MPK38/MELK ameliorates defects in glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism in diet-induced obese mice.
Article in Cell death & disease, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular mechanisms and recent advances in cellular senescence.Cell & bioscience · 2026Review
- Discovery of the MELK-Nucleostemin Axis in Glioblastoma: Implications for p53 Regulation and Tumor Progression.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Integrated Genomic-Metabolomic Analysis for Tri-Categorical Classification of Type 2 Diabetes Status in the Korean Ansan-Ansung Cohort.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- The Effect of CDKN1A on the Expression of Genes Related to Milk Protein and Milk Fat Synthesis in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- The Emerging Role of p21 in Diabetes and Related Metabolic Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Thioredoxin (Trx): A redox target and modulator of cellular senescence and aging-related diseases.Redox biology · 2024Review
- CDKN1A/p21 in Breast Cancer: Part of the Problem, or Part of the Solution?International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Analyzing the Association of Visceral Adipose Tissue Growth Differentiation Factor-15 and MicroRNA in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome · 2023Article
- Identification of ferroptosis-related genes in the progress of NASH.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Identification of hub genes of Parkinson's disease through bioinformatics analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Inhibition of MELK produces potential anti-tumour effects in bladder cancer by inducing G1/S cell cycle arrest via the ATM/CHK2/p53 pathway.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2020Article
- The Multifaceted p21 (Cip1/Waf1/Cancers · 2019Review
- p21cip1/waf1 Coordinate Autophagy, Proliferation and Apoptosis in Response to Metabolic Stress.Cancers · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Murine protein serine-threonine kinase 38 (MPK38)/maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK), an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-related kinase, has previously been shown to interact with p53 and to stimulate downstream signaling. p21, a downstream target of p53, is also known to be involved in adipocyte and obesity metabolism. However, little is known about the mechanism by which p21 mediates obesity-associated metabolic adaptation. Here, we identify MPK38 as an interacting partner of p21. p21 and MPK38 interacted through the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) binding region of p21 and the C-terminal domain of MPK38. MPK38 potentiated p21-mediated apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in a kinase-dependent manner by inhibiting assembly of CDK2-cyclin E and CDK4-cyclin D complexes via induction of CDK2-p21 and CDK4-p21 complex formation and reductions in complex formation between p21 and its negative regulator mouse double minute 2 (MDM2), leading to p21 stabilization. MPK38 phosphorylated p21 at Thr55, stimulating its nuclear translocation, which resulted in greater association of p21 with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), preventing the PPARγ transactivation required for adipogenesis. Furthermore, restoration of p21 expression by adenoviral delivery in diet-induced obese mice ameliorated obesity-induced metabolic abnormalities in a MPK38 phosphorylation-dependent manner. These results suggest that MPK38 functions as a positive regulator of p21, regulating apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and metabolism during obesity.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.