title: Severe liver degeneration and lack of NF-kappaB activation in NEMO/IKKgamma-deficient mice.
abstract: Phosphorylation of IkappaB, an inhibitor of NF-kappaB, is an important step in the activation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB. Phosphorylation is mediated by the IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex, known to contain two catalytic subunits: IKKalpha and IKKbeta. A novel, noncatalytic component of this kinase complex called NEMO (NF-kappaB essential modulator)/IKKgamma was identified recently. We have generated NEMO/IKKgamma-deficient mice by gene targeting. Mutant embryos die at E12.5-E13.0 from severe liver damage due to apoptosis. NEMO/IKKgamma-deficient primary murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) lack detectable NF-kappaB DNA-binding activity in response to TNFalpha, IL-1, LPS, and Poly(IC) and do not show stimulus-dependent IkappaB kinase activity, which correlates with a lack of phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaBalpha. Consistent with these data, mutant MEFs show increased sensitivity to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis. Our data provide in vivo evidence that NEMO/IKKgamma is the first essential, noncatalytic component of the IKK complex.
authors.affiliation: The Amgen Institute, Ontario Cancer Institute, and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C1, Canada.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wakeham
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nallainathan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Elia
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Mak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005313:Fetal Death; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D051550:I-kappa B Kinase; D008099:Liver / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; C496564:Chuk protein, mouse; D051550:I-kappa B Kinase; C496562:Ikbkb protein, mouse; C496566:Ikbke protein, mouse