Systemic endocrine instigation of indolent tumor growth requires osteopontin.

The effects of primary tumors on the host systemic environment and resulting contributions of the host to tumor growth are poorly understood. Here, we find that human breast carcinomas instigate the growth of otherwise-indolent tumor cells, micrometastases, and human tumor surgical specimens located at distant anatomical sites. This systemic instigation is accompanied by incorporation of bone-marrow cells (BMCs) into the stroma of the distant, once-indolent tumors.

ERK8 down-regulates transactivation of the glucocorticoid receptor through Hic-5.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 8 (ERK8) is the most recently identified member of the ERK subfamily of MAPKs. Although other members of the ERK subfamily are established regulators of signaling pathways involved in cell growth and/or differentiation, less is known about ERK8. To understand the cellular function of ERK8, a yeast two-hybrid screen of a human lung library was performed to identify binding partners.

ERK8, a new member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family.

The ERKs are a subfamily of the MAPKs that have been implicated in cell growth and differentiation. By using the rat ERK7 cDNA to screen a human multiple tissue cDNA library, we identified a new member of the ERK family, ERK8, that shares 69% amino acid sequence identity with ERK7. Northern analysis demonstrates that ERK8 is present in a number of tissues with maximal expression in the lung and kidney.