Changes of mitogen-activated protein kinases signal transduction pathway in ischemia/reperfusion injury

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNKs) and p38 MAPK, play an important role in transducting environmental stimuli to the transcriptional machinery in the nucleus in mammalian cells by virtue of their ability to phosphorylate and regulate the activity of various transcription factors. It was recently found that the changes in activity of MAPKs occurred during ischemia/reperfusion, but the biological significance of the changes was still controversial.