A beginner's guide to NF-κB signaling pathways

Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) belongs to a family of heterodimeric transcription factors that play a key role in inflammatory and stress responses as well as in tumor cell resistance to apoptosis. These effects are due to the NF-κB-dependent transcription of many proinflammatory and antiapoptotic genes, whose products ensure various cell responses to environmental conditions. The signal transduction pathways leading to NF-κB activation are well characterized, and the different steps implicated in these pathways involve proteins that could constitute targets for NF-κB inhibition. Several inhibitors aiming to prevent NF-κB activity and thus the transcription of target genes are studied, and a few compounds seem particularly promising. We try here to summarize the advantages that can issue from various studies on NF-κB.