Scientific background: |
NFATC2(Nuclear factor of activated T-cells, cytoplasmic 2),also known as NFATP or the 'preexisting component' of NFAT, is present in the cytosolic fraction of unstimulated T cells, which is also a member of the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) family. The NFATC2 gene is mapped on 20q13.2. NFATC2 is highly homologous to NFATC1 over a limited domain which shows similarity to the Dorsal/Rel family but has a wider tissue distribution. Ectopic expression of NFATC2 inhibited the basal activity of the human CDK4 promoter. Additionally, both Calna-/- and Nfatc2 -/- mice had elevated protein levels of Cdk4, confirming a negative regulatory role for the calcineurin/NFAT pathway. NFATC2 controls myoblast fusion at a specific stage of myogenesis after the initial formation of a myotube and is necessary for further cell growth. Overexpression of NFATC2 promoted differentiation of osteoclast precursor cells into tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive (TRAP-positive) multinucleated osteoclast-like cells even in the absence of RANKL |
References: |
1. Aramburu, J., Garcia-Cozar, F., Raghavan, A., Okamura, H., Rao, A., Hogan, P. G. Selective inhibition of NFAT activation by a peptide spanning the calcineurin targeting site of NFAT. Molec. Cell 1: 627-637, 1998.
2. Baksh, S., Widlund, H. R., Frazer-Abel, A. A., Du, J., Fosmire, S., Fisher, D. E., DeCaprio, J. A., Modiano, J. F., Burakoff, S. J. NFATc2-mediated repression of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 expression. Molec. Cell 10: 1071-1081, 2002.
3. Northrop JP, Ho SN, Chen L, Thomas DJ, Timmerman LA, Nolan GP, Admon A, Crabtree GR (Jul 1994). "NF-AT components define a family of transcription factors targeted in T-cell activation". Nature 369 (6480): 497 |