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Differential activation of transcription factors induced by Ca2+ response amplitude and duration

Nature volume 386, pages 855–858 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

An increase in the intracellular calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i) controls a diverse range of cell functions, including adhesion, motility, gene expression and proliferation1,2. Calcium signalling patterns can occur as single transients, repetitive oscillations or sustained plateaux2,3, but it is not known whether these patterns are responsible for encoding the specificity of cellular responses. We report here that the amplitude and duration of calcium signals in B lymphocytes controls differential activation of the pro–inflammatory transcriptional regulators NF-κB, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and NFAT. NF-κB and JNK are selectively activated by a large transient [Ca2+]i rise, whereas NFAT is activated by a low, sustained Ca2+ plateau. Differential activation results from differences in the Ca2+ sensitivities and kinetic behaviour of the three pathways. Our results show how downstream effectors can decode information contained in the amplitude and duration of Ca2+ signals, revealing a mechanism by which a multifunctional second messenger such as Ca2+ can achieve specificity in signalling to the nucleus.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Neurosciences Program

    Ricardo E. Dolmetsch & Richard S. Lewis

  2. Program in Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    Richard S. Lewis, Christopher C. Goodnow & James I. Healy

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    Christopher C. Goodnow & James I. Healy

Authors
  1. Ricardo E. Dolmetsch
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  2. Richard S. Lewis
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  3. Christopher C. Goodnow
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  4. James I. Healy
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Dolmetsch, R., Lewis, R., Goodnow, C. et al. Differential activation of transcription factors induced by Ca2+ response amplitude and duration. Nature 386, 855–858 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/386855a0

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