title: Unusual Rel-like architecture in the DNA-binding domain of the transcription factor NFATc.
abstract: Transcription factors of the NFAT family regulate the production of effector proteins that coordinate the immune response. The immunosuppressive drugs FK506 and cyclosporin A (CsA) act by blocking a Ca2+-mediated signalling pathway leading to NFAT. Although FK506 and CsA have enabled human organs to be transplanted routinely, the toxic side-effects of these drugs limit their usage. This toxicity might be absent in antagonists that target NFAT directly. As a first step in the structure-based search for NFAT antagonists, we now report the identification and solution structure of a 20K domain of NFATc (NFATc-DBD) that is both necessary and sufficient to bind DNA and activate transcription cooperatively. Although the overall fold of the NFATc DNA-binding domain is related to that of NF-kappaB p50 (refs 2, 3), the two proteins use significantly different strategies for DNA recognition. On the basis of these results, we present a model for the cooperative complex formed between NFAT and the mitogenic transcription factor AP-1 on the interleukin-2 enhancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dötsch
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Crabtree
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Verdine
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D004926:Escherichia coli; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000737:chemistry; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D020569:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-rel; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007376:Interleukin-2; D016328:NF-kappa B; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D020569:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-rel; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA