MAPK signaling pathways in eye wounds: Multifunction and cooperation

Abstract

As is widely distributed in eukaryotic cells, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway family plays an inevitable role in diverse cellular processes, being capable of responding to particular physiological reactions induced by multiple extracellular signals or stimuli, such as protean concentrations, ischemia/reperfusion, and inflammation. The physiological reactions mediated by the MAPK signaling pathway contribute to the progression and healing of eye wounds. Meanwhile, several pathways in the MAPK family can cooperate with each other and establish distinct responses to different, or even the same, stimuli and, thus, more attention may be paid to the pathway in future research.

Keywords: Cornea; ERK; JNK; MAPK; Retina; Wound; p38.