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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

A Guide to Production, Crystallization, and Structure Determination of Human IKK1/α
Published on: November 2, 2018
Phosphorylation of NF-kappaB and IkappaB proteins: implications in cancer and inflammation
Patrick Viatour1, Marie-Paule Merville, Vincent Bours
1Laboratory of Medical Chemistry and Human Genetics, CHU, Sart-Tilman, Center for Biomedical Integrated Genoproteomics, University of Liege, Belgium.
Abstract:
Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a transcription factor that has crucial roles in inflammation, immunity, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Activation of NF-kappaB mainly occurs via IkappaB kinase (IKK)-mediated phosphorylation of inhibitory molecules, including IkappaBalpha. Optimal induction of NF-kappaB target genes also requires phosphorylation of NF-kappaB proteins, such as p65, within their transactivation domain by a variety of kinases in response to distinct stimuli. Whether, and how, phosphorylation modulates the function of other NF-kappaB and IkappaB proteins, such as B-cell lymphoma 3, remains unclear. The identification and characterization of all the kinases known to phosphorylate NF-kappaB and IkappaB proteins are described here. Because deregulation of NF-kappaB and IkappaB phosphorylations is a hallmark of chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer, newly designed drugs targeting these constitutively activated signalling pathways represent promising therapeutic tools.
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