When an animal cell encounters a bacterial or chemical toxin, it
needs to respond to ensure its survival, but how it does this is
still poorly understood. Now, two independent studies clarify
the involvement of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38
mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathways in
these responses in Caenorhabditis elegans. Both JNK and p38 are
well known mediators of stress responses in mammalian cells, and
in C. elegans, these proteins, other components involved in
their signalling pathways, and their involvement in stress
responses are conserved. The two new papers, reported in the
July 12 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
USA, together reveal an evolutionarily interconnected mechanism
for responding to bacterial stress. "MAPKs appear to be one of
the most ancient defense pathways known from plants, yeasts, and
animals," said Hinrich Schulenburg, from the University of
Münster, and who was not involved in the two PNAS studies.
"These two studies now p