Chytil M, Verdine G L
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 1996 Feb;6(1):91-100. doi: 10.1016/s0959-440x(96)80100-x.
Members of the Rel transcription factor family mediate the response of eukaryotic cells to a broad range of environmental threats, in addition to serving an essential role in the development of certain vertebrate and insect cells. It is now apparent that there are two classes of Rel proteins, which differ in whether they bind DNA as monomers or dimers and which use markedly different mechanisms to transduce intracellular signals. Recent progress has been made towards understanding the structural basis for the fascinating biology of these proteins.
Rel转录因子家族的成员不仅在某些脊椎动物和昆虫细胞的发育中发挥重要作用，还介导真核细胞对多种环境威胁的反应。现在很明显，Rel蛋白有两类，它们在以单体还是二聚体形式结合DNA以及使用明显不同的机制转导细胞内信号方面存在差异。在理解这些蛋白质引人入胜的生物学特性的结构基础方面，最近已经取得了进展。
