The role of the c-Jun N-terminal Kinase signaling pathway in skin cancer

The c-Jun N-terminal Kinases (JNK), along with Erk and p38, constitute the principle members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family. JNK functions primarily through AP1 family transcription factors to regulate a plethora of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, survival and migration. It also cross-talks and integrates with other signaling pathways in a cell context-specific and cell type-specific manner. The current views of JNK function in various skin cancers and the need of developing JNK subunit-specific inhibitors for cancer type-specific applications have been summarized in this review.