title: Analysis of the preexisting and nuclear forms of nuclear factor of activated T cells.
abstract: The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NF-AT)3 is an inducible DNA-binding protein that is essential for transcriptional induction of the IL-2 gene during T cell activation. NF-AT is thought to consist of two components: a ubiquitous, inducible nuclear component that we have identified as Fos and Jun proteins, and a preexisting, T cell-specific component (NF-ATp) which is the target for the immunosuppressive agents cyclosporin A (CsA) and FK506. We have previously shown that nuclear extracts from activated T cells form two inducible NF-AT complexes with an oligonucleotide corresponding to the distal NF-AT site of the murine IL-2 promoter, although hypotonic extracts of unstimulated T cells form a single complex containing NF-ATp. We show that the ability to detect NF-ATp in a gel shift assay, which is essential for purification and biochemical studies of this protein, is strikingly dependent on the precise sequence of the NF-AT oligonucleotide used as the labeled probe. Moreover we present evidence that the component that forms the faster-migrating ("lower") nuclear NF-AT complex is derived by a calcium-dependent, cyclosporin-sensitive, posttranslational modification of NF-ATp, and that Fos and Jun proteins stabilize its interaction with DNA. The results are discussed in the context of a model relating the two nuclear NF-AT complexes to NF-ATp.
authors.affiliation: Division of Tumor Virology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Miner
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun; D014157:Transcription Factors