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Updated: May 2, 2026

Visualization of IL-22-expressing Lymphocytes Using Reporter Mice
Published on: January 25, 2017
USP22 is a positive regulator of NFATc2 on promoting IL2 expression
Yayi Gao1, Fang Lin1, Peng Xu2
1Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology & Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
Abstract:
Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) is an important regulator of T cell activation. However, the molecular mechanism whereby NFATc2 regulates IL2 transcription is not fully understood. In this study, we showed that ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22), known as a cancer stem cell marker, specifically interacted with and deubiquitinated NFATc2. USP22 stabilized NFATc2 protein levels, which required its deubiquitinase activity. Consistent with these observations, depletion of USP22 in T cells reduced the expression of IL2, which is a cytokine that signifies T effector cell activation. Our findings thus unveil a previously uncharacterized positive regulator of NFATc2, suggesting that targeting the deubiquitinase activity of USP22 could have therapeutic benefit to control IL2 expression and T cell function.
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