Meta-Biol

• Pathways

NF-kB is sequestered in the cytosol of unstimulated cells through the interactions with a class of inhibitor proteins, called IkBs, which mask the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of NF-kB and prevent its nuclear translocation. A key event in NF-kB activation involves phosphorylation of IkB (at sites equivalent to Ser32 and Ser36 of IkB-alpha or Ser19 and Ser22 of IkB-beta) by IKK. The phosphorylated IkB-alpha is recognized by the E3 ligase complex and targeted for ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation, releasing the NF-kB dimer p50/p65 into the nucleus to turn on target genes. (Karin & Ben-Neriah 2000)