MKK7-mediated phosphorylation of JNKs regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of human spermatogonial stem cells

Figure 4 Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 affected the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases. A: Three databases predicted that mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 (MKK7) interacts directly with c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1), JNK2 and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 7 (MAPK3K7); B: Protein co-immunoprecipitation (IP) results indicated that MKK7 interacts directly with JNKs; C and D: Western blotting results showed that MKK7 knockdown did not affect the overall expression level of JNKs; the levels of phosphorylated (p-)JNKs decreased significantly. ^aP < 0.05 denotes a significant difference between the MKK7-small interfering (si)RNA 3 and Control-siRNA groups. IB: Immunoblot; IgG: Immunoglobulin G; ACTB: Beta actin.