ABSTRACT
Members of the Rel/NF-κB family of transcription factors are related to each other over a region of about 300 amino acids called the Rel Homology Domain (RHD), which governs DNA binding, dimerization, and binding to inhibitor. At the C-terminal end of the RHD, each protein has a nuclear localization signal (NLS). The crystal structures of the p50 and RelA family members show that the RHD consists of two regions: an N-terminal section which contains some of the DNA contacts and a C-terminal section which contains the remaining DNA contacts and controls dimerization. In unstimulated cells, the homo- or heterodimeric Rel/NF-κB proteins are cytoplasmic by virtue of binding to an inhibitor protein (IκB) which somehow masks the NLS of each member of the dimer. The IκB proteins consist of an ankyrin-repeat-containing domain that is required for binding to dimers and N- and C-terminal domains that are dispensable for binding to most dimers. In this study, we examined the interaction between IκBα and Rel family homodimers by mutational analysis. We show that (i) the dimerization regions of p50, RelA, and c-Rel are sufficient for binding to IκBα, (ii) the NLSs of RelA and c-Rel are not required for binding to IκBα but do stabilize the interaction, (iii) the NLS of p50 is required for binding to IκBα, (iv) only certain residues within the p50 NLS are required for binding, and (v) in a p50-IκBα complex or a c-Rel-IκBα complex, the N terminus of IκBα either directly or indirectly masks one or both of the dimer NLSs.
DNA polymerase β contains a functional nuclear localization signal at its N-terminus
