The inhibitory ankyrin and activator Rel proteins

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The gene families encoding the proteins NF-ℵB, c-Rel and Dorsal, in conjunction with their respective inhibitors IℵB, pp40, and Cactus, achieve specificity in gene regulation by means of common principles. The related activities of NF-ℵB and Dorsal are mediated by heterodimeric or homodimeric complexes of proteins containing the conserved dimerization and DNA-binding domain termed Rel. The IℵBs and Cactus, which share a core series of structural repeats termed ankyrin, inhibit cognate activators through differential interactions with the Rel-homology domain. Together, the inhibitory ankyrin proteins and their cognate Rel dimers probably define specific signalling pathways able to activate specific gene expression. Both gene families include proto-oncogenes, thus broadly implicating Rel/IℵB in the control of both normal gene expression and the abberant gene expression that makes cells cancerous.

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