title: Transcriptional control by NF-κB: elongation in focus.
abstract: The NF-κB family of transcription factors governs the cellular reaction to a variety of extracellular signals. Following stimulation, NF-κB activates genes involved in inflammation, cell survival, cell cycle, immune cell homeostasis and more. This review focuses on studies of the past decade that uncover the transcription elongation process as a key regulatory stage in the activation pathway of NF-κB. Of interest are studies that point to the elongation phase as central to the selectivity of target gene activation by NF-κB. Particularly, the cascade leading to phosphorylation and acetylation of the NF-κB subunit p65 on serine 276 and lysine 310, respectively, was shown to mediate the recruitment of Brd4 and P-TEFb to many pro-inflammatory target genes, which in turn facilitate elongation and mRNA processing. On the other hand, some anti-inflammatory genes are refractory to this pathway and are dependent on the elongation factor DSIF for efficient elongation and mRNA processing. While these studies have advanced our knowledge of NF-κB transcriptional activity, they have also raised unresolved issues regarding the specific genomic and physiological contexts by which NF-κB utilizes different mechanisms for activation.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot , Israel.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Diamant
authors.forename: Rivka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dikstein
mesh_terms: D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Brd4; DSIF; NF-κB; P-TEFb; transcription elongation