Figure 1. Involvement of the
p38 MAP kinase pathway in three different processes in C. elegans. The
p38 pathway per se consists of a MAPKKK (NSY-1), a MAPKK (SEK-1), and a MAPK (PMK-1). On the left, the
p38 pathway is being used to determine cell fate in the AWC chemosensory neuron pair (Troemel, Sagasti, and Bargmann 1999). in the center, the
p38 pathway is being used to regulate immune responses to fungal and bacterial pathogens. These include immune responses that occur in the epidermis or the intestine (reviewed in Partridge, Gravato-Nobre, and Hodgkin 2010). On the right, the
p38 pathway is being used to regulate expression of an L1-specific surface epitope recognized by a monoclonal antibody (Foley et al., 2019). In addition to the MAP kinase cascade, C. elegans processes mediated by the
p38 pathway utilize upstream signaling proteins such as the adapter protein TIR-1, as well as G proteins, phospholipase C, and protein kinase C (not shown, reviewed in Partridge, Gravato-Nobre and Hodgkin 2010).