NF-kB Signaling Pathway

NF-κB is a family of transcription factor proteins including Rel (c-Rel), RELB, RelA/p65, NFκB1 p50/p105, and NFκB2 p52/p100. These proteins act as dimerization transcription factors that regulate gene expression and can affect a variety of biological processes including innate and adaptive immunity, inflammation, stress response, B cell development, and lymphoid organ formation. As an early transcription factor, activation of NF-κB does not require the regulation of newly translated proteins. Therefore, it is possible to respond to the stimulation of harmful cells at the first time. The NF-κB pathway can be activated by cellular stress, inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, ultraviolet rays, etc. Activated NF-κB is transported from the cytoplasm into the nucleus and then binds to a specific DNA sequence to form a DNA/NF-κB complex, which initiates the downstream DNA sequences to transcript and synthesize proteins, thereby exerting different biological functions.