Interaction of calcineurin with a domain of the transcription factor NFAT1 that controls nuclear import.
Abstract
The nuclear import of the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT)-family transcription factors is initiated by the protein phosphatase calcineurin. Here we identify a regulatory region of NFAT1, N terminal to the DNA-binding domain, that controls nuclear import of NFAT1. The regulatory region of NFAT1 binds directly to calcineurin, is a substrate for calcineurin in vitro, and shows regulated subcellular localization identical to that of full-length NFAT1. The corresponding region of NFATc likewise binds calcineurin, suggesting that the efficient activation of NFAT1 and NFATc by calcineurin reflects a specific targeting of the phosphatase to these proteins. The presence in other NFAT-family transcription factors of several sequence motifs from the regulatory region of NFAT1, including its probable nuclear localization sequence, indicates that a conserved protein domain may control nuclear import of all NFAT proteins.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- August 1996
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.93.17.8907
- Bibcode:
- 1996PNAS...93.8907L