JNK signal transduction pathway and its effect in tissue damage

Mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK),a kind of serine and tyrosine kinase,is widely expressed in mammalian cells,which plays an important role in a variety of signal transduction pathways.There are four subfamilies in MAPK including ERK,JNK,p38MAPK and ERK5,among which JNK pathway plays a pivotal role in various physiological and pathological events,such as cell cycle,growth,apoptosis,cell stress and so on.The isforms,distribution and cytokines associated with JNK cascade and their roles contributing to tissue damage are reviewed in this article,which may provide understanding for severity of tissue damage and wound age estimation in the field of forensic pathology.