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Molecular and Cellular Biology, February 2003, p. 1418-1427, Vol. 23, No. 4
0270-7306/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.4.1418-1427.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Regulation of c-Rel Nuclear Localization by Binding of Ca²⁺/Calmodulin

Åsa Antonsson, Kate Hughes, Sofia Edin, and Thomas Grundström^*

Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden

Received 9 September 2002/ Returned for modification 30 October 2002/ Accepted 20 November 2002

The NF-B/Rel family of transcription factors participates in the control of a wide array of genes, including genes involved in embryonic development and regulation of immune, inflammation, and stress responses. In most cells, inhibitory IB proteins sequester NF-B/Rel in the cytoplasm. Cellular stimulation results in the degradation of IB and modification of NF-B/Rel proteins, allowing NF-B/Rel to translocate to the nucleus and act on its target genes. Calmodulin (CaM) is a highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed Ca²⁺ binding protein that serves as a key mediator of intracellular Ca²⁺ signals. Here we report that two members of the NF-B/Rel family, c-Rel and RelA, interact directly with Ca²⁺-loaded CaM. The interaction with CaM is greatly enhanced by cell stimulation, and this enhancement is blocked by addition of IB. c-Rel and RelA interact with CaM through a similar sequence near the nuclear localization signal. Compared to the wild-type protein, CaM binding-deficient mutants of c-Rel exhibit increases in both nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activity on the interleukin 2 and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor promoters in the presence of a Ca²⁺ signal. Conversely, for RelA neither nuclear accumulation nor transcriptional activity on these promoters is increased by mutation of the sequence interacting with CaM. Our results suggest that CaM binds c-Rel and RelA after their release from IB and can inhibit nuclear import of c-Rel while letting RelA translocate to the nucleus and act on its target genes. CaM can therefore differentially regulate the activation of NF-B/Rel proteins following stimulation.

Present address: Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow, G61 1BD, United Kingdom.

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