AP-1 function and regulation.
AP-1 (activating protein-1) is a collective term referring to dimeric transcription factors composed of Jun, Fos or ATF (activating transcription factor) subunits that bind to a common DNA site, the AP-1-binding site. As the complexity of our knowledge of AP-1 factors has increased, our understanding of their physiological function has decreased. This trend, however, is beginning to be reversed due to the recent studies of gene-knockout mice and cell lines deficient in specific AP-1 components. Such studies suggest that different AP-1 factors may regulate different target genes and thus execute distinct biological functions. Also, the involvement of AP-1 factors in functions such as cell proliferation and survival has been made somewhat clearer as a result of such studies. In addition, there has been considerable progress in understanding some of the mechanisms and signaling pathways involved in the regulation of AP-1 activity. In addition to regulation by heterodimerization between Jun, Fos and ATF proteins, AP-1 activity is regulated through interactions with specific protein kinases and a variety of transcriptional coactivators.
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Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0636, USA. palford@ucsd.edu
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D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016762:Genes, fos; D016758:Genes, jun; D006801:Humans; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1 / Q000502:physiology*
D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases