Kinase suppressor of Ras 1 (KSR1) was originally identified as a positive regulator of Ras signaling

in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila and homologues were subsequently discovered in mammals 15–17. Further studies demonstrated that KSR1 is a scaffold molecule that binds critical components of the MAPK cascade and is essential for ERK activation https://www.selleckchem.com/products/bgj398-nvp-bgj398.html in a variety of cell types 18. In the immune system, KSR1 is critical for the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by innate immune cells in response to stress signals and required for efficient activation of peripheral T cells 18, 19. Little is known, however, about the role of KSR1 in the development of T cells, although a cursory examination revealed no gross abnormalities 18. In this study, we examined the role of KSR1 in thymocyte development. As expected, KSR1 deletion resulted in impairment of

ERK activation in thymocytes following TCR stimulation. Interestingly, this diminished ERK activation had only minimal effects on T-cell development. Positive selection was normal in both KSR1−/− AND (CD4+) and HY (CD8+) TCR transgenic mice. Negative selection also appeared normal in KSR1−/− AND mice, but was slightly impaired in male HY KSR1−/− mice. Negative selection in a third model of negative selection, endogenous superantigen deletion, also appeared normal. These data indicate that a minimal amount of ERK activation may be Small Molecule Compound Library sufficient to sustain thymocyte maturation and that strong activation of ERK may only be required for negative selection of certain TCR expressing thymocytes. KSR1 has been shown to be required for the efficient activation of ERK in a number of cell types Methocarbamol 18–22. We previously reported a defect in ERK activation in peripheral

T cells in response to PMA or CD3-crosslinking 18. To determine the extent to which ERK activation in thymocytes also requires KSR1, we stimulated KSR1 WT or knockout thymocytes with PMA (Fig. 1A) or anti-CD3 (Fig. 1B) for various time points, lysed the cells and measured the level of activated ERK using an ERK phospho-specific antibody. As expected, there was a significant defect in ERK activation in KSR1−/− thymocytes downstream of both stimuli. Interestingly, we noted that the defect after PMA stimulation was reproducibly always more significant than after CD3 stimulation. We quantified the ERK activation defect using flow cytometric analysis using the phospho-ERK antibody (Fig. 1C–F). This also allowed us to measure the ERK activation defect in individual thymocyte subsets. The analysis confirmed that there is a significant ERK activation defect after PMA activation and that it is more significant than the defect after CD3 activation (Fig. 1C–F). The ERK activation defect in KSR1−/− thymocytes appeared to be greatest in CD4 and CD8 SP with a smaller but consistent defect in the DN and DP subsets.