Ahn Kwang Seok, Sethi Gautam, Aggarwal Bharat B
Cytokine Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Curr Mol Med. 2007 Nov;7(7):619-37. doi: 10.2174/156652407782564363.
Nuclear transcription factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) was first discovered in 1986 in the nucleus of the B cell as an enhancer in the kappa immunoglobulin chain. However, this factor has identified in the cytoplasm in the resting state. When activated in response to inflammatory stimuli, carcinogens, stress, ionizing radiation, and growth factors; NF-kappaB translocates to the nucleus where it upregulates the expression of over 400 different gene products linked with inflammation, cell survival, proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis. The activation of NF-kappaB has now been linked with a variety of inflammatory diseases, including cancer and pulmonary, autoimmune, skin, neurodegenerative, and cardiovascular disorders. Indeed, constitutive NF-kappaB activation frequently correlates with the proliferation, survival, chemoresistance, radioresistance, and progression of various cancers. Hence, NF-kappaB has both diagnostic and prognostic applications. In addition, pharmaceutical companies are aggressively pursuing development of inhibitors of NF-kappaB with therapeutic potential. Thus within last decades this transcription factor, discovered serendipitously, has moved from "clone to clinic".
核转录因子κB（NF-κB）于1986年首次在B细胞核中作为κ免疫球蛋白链中的一种增强子被发现。然而，该因子在静息状态下存在于细胞质中。当受到炎症刺激、致癌物、应激、电离辐射和生长因子的激活时，NF-κB会转移到细胞核，在那里它上调与炎症、细胞存活、增殖、侵袭和血管生成相关的400多种不同基因产物的表达。NF-κB的激活现在已与多种炎症性疾病相关联，包括癌症以及肺部、自身免疫性、皮肤、神经退行性和心血管疾病。事实上，组成型NF-κB激活常常与各种癌症的增殖、存活、化疗耐药性、放疗耐受性和进展相关。因此，NF-κB具有诊断和预后应用价值。此外，制药公司正在积极研发具有治疗潜力的NF-κB抑制剂。因此，在过去几十年中，这个偶然发现的转录因子已从“克隆走向临床”。
