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Nature 403, 255-256 (20 January 2000) | doi:10.1038/35002220

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Signal transduction: A central control for cell growth

Alan J. Whitmarsh1 & Roger J. Davis1

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The identification of an unexpected function for the mitogen-activated protein kinase — the synthesis of DNA and RNA — opens up yet another route by which this multifaceted enzyme can influence cellular growth.

Cells respond to growth-promoting factors in two ways — by replicating their chromosomes and by increasing the expression of genes to form new proteins. Chromosome replication requires the production of new DNA, whereas the increase in gene expression requires synthesis of new ribonucleic acid (RNA).

  1. Alan J. Whitmarsh and Roger J. Davis are at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Program in Molecular Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.

Correspondence to: Roger J. Davis1 e-mail: Email: roger.davis@umassmed.edu