The NF-kappaB Family of Transcription Factors and Its Regulation

Overview

Journal Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol

Specialties Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2010 Jan 13

PMID 20066092

Citations 1330

Authors

Andrea Oeckinghaus

Sankar Ghosh

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) consists of a family of transcription factors that play critical roles in inflammation, immunity, cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Inducible NF-kappaB activation depends on phosphorylation-induced proteosomal degradation of the inhibitor of NF-kappaB proteins (IkappaBs), which retain inactive NF-kappaB dimers in the cytosol in unstimulated cells. The majority of the diverse signaling pathways that lead to NF-kappaB activation converge on the IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex, which is responsible for IkappaB phosphorylation and is essential for signal transduction to NF-kappaB. Additional regulation of NF-kappaB activity is achieved through various post-translational modifications of the core components of the NF-kappaB signaling pathways. In addition to cytosolic modifications of IKK and IkappaB proteins, as well as other pathway-specific mediators, the transcription factors are themselves extensively modified. Tremendous progress has been made over the last two decades in unraveling the elaborate regulatory networks that control the NF-kappaB response. This has made the NF-kappaB pathway a paradigm for understanding general principles of signal transduction and gene regulation.

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