title: Association of STATs with relatives and friends.
abstract: Members of the STAT family of transcription factors are present in species as diverse as mammals, insects and slime molds. Discovered as mediators of interferon-induced signals, the STATs were later shown to drive many different ligand-induced responses through receptor-induced tyrosine phosphorylation and dimerization. STAT1 also functions as a transcription factor, essential for the efficient constitutive expression of certain genes, without needing tyrosine phosphorylation, and phosphorylated STAT1 dimers mediate suppression - rather than activation - of some genes. STATs are present in the cytoplasm of untreated cells in multiprotein complexes, which might aid in their nuclear translocation and differential binding to DNA, thus contributing to the specificity of STAT action. This review explores the diverse protein-protein interactions that underlie the multiple functions of the STATs.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Molecular Biology, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chatterjee-Kishore
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: van den Akker
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Stark
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000235:genetics; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor; C494079:STAT1 protein, human; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014443:Tyrosine; D004247:DNA