title: The NF-κB family: Key players during embryonic development and HSC emergence.
abstract: The nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) family is a crucial transcription factor group known mainly for its role in the regulation of the immune system and its response to infection in vertebrates. The signaling pathway leading to NF-κB activation and translocation to the nucleus to exert its function as a transcription factor is well conserved among Kingdom Animalia, which has helped to elucidate other roles that NF-κB plays in other biological contexts such as developmental biology. The manipulation of NF-κB members in a diverse range of animal models results in severe developmental defects during embryogenesis, very often leading to embryonic lethality. Defects include dorsal-ventral patterning and limb, liver, skin, lung, neural, notochord, muscle, skeletal, and hematopoietic defects. Here, we recapitulate the research that has been done to address the role that NF-κB plays during embryonic development, in particular to emphasize its recently discovered role in the specification of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), the foundation of the hematopoietic system in vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Espín-Palazón
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA. Electronic address: dtraver@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Traver
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B