This article is part of the supplement: 12th Joint Meeting of the Signal Transduction Society (STS). Signal Transduction: Receptors, Mediators and Genes
Meeting abstract
Signal transduction studies on single cell level: P38, but not NFATc2, is the main regulator of NFATc1/A expression in human Th cells
Cell Communication and Signaling 2009, 7(Suppl 1):A2 doi:10.1186/1478-811X-7-S1-A2
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biosignaling.com/content/7/S1/A2
| Published: | 26 February 2009 |
© 2009 Bendfeldt et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Meeting abstract
NFATc2 and NFATc1 are the most prominent NFAT factors in T helper (Th) cells. They overlap in their functions for cytokine expression and were commonly activated by T-cell receptor (TcR)/calcium/calcineurin signaling pathway. However, they differ strikingly in their mode of expression. NFATc2 is constitutively expressed in Th cells, whereas the NFATc1/A, the most prominent NFATc1 isoform in Th cells, is strongly induced by antigen-specific stimulation of T-cell receptor (TcR) and co-receptor(s).
The regulation of NFATc1/A expression is controversially discussed. Single cell analysis of activated transcription factors and signaling molecules enabled us to show that the activated kinase p38 is the main component for NFATc1/A induction. Using specific inhibitors and the existing different modes of activation of signaling pathways we could rule out that activated NFATc2 and NF-kB play a prominent role in regulating NFATc1/A expression. Furthermore, we clearly demonstrated that NFATc1/A induction does not exhibit a switch-like dependence on calcineurin/NFATc2 activity.
In general, our data and results confirmed the relevance and importance to study cell signaling on single cell level.