Tumor progression locus 2 (Tpl2)/Cot kinase is a newer member of MAP3K family that is now known for its essential role in TNFα expression in macrophages, but its proinflammatory signaling, if any, in glia is unknown. When cultures of murine microglia and astrocytes were exposed to lipopolysaccharide, there was a rapid activation (i.e., phosphorylation) of Tpl2 in parallel to the activation of down-stream effector MAPKs i.e., ERK, p38 MAPK and JNK. Pre-incubation of the cultures with a Tpl2 inhibitor selectively suppressed the activation of the primary down-stream target i.e., ERK relative to p38 MAPK and JNK. That Tpl2 activation was functionally involved in glial inflammatory response was indicated by a reduced release of the cytokines i.e., TNFα and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the presence of the kinase inhibitor. Further, overexpression of a wild-type Tpl2 construct in C-6 glia resulted in an enhanced transcriptional activation of iNOS while transfection with a dominant negative form of Tpl-2 had the opposite effect. The findings assign an important proinflammatory signaling function for Tpl2 pathway in glial cells.
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