Expression profiling of MAPK inhibition in WM266-4 BRAF V600D mutant melanoma cell line

Extracellular signal regulated kinases, ERK1 and ERK2 are often considered as redundant due to their high homology, large number of overlapping substrates, and ability to substitute for each other in genetically engineered mouse models. We have investigated the individual contribution of ERK1 and ERK2 to the survival of human melanoma cell lines driven by oncogenic BRAF. ERK2, but not ERK1 activity, was crucial to drive survival and maintain transcriptional output of the MAPK pathway. Furthermore, we found that ERK2 DEF-domain interactions were crucial for transcriptional regulation and survival in some cells, but not in others, whereas ERK2-substrate interactions at the D-docking motif were largely dispensable.

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