The STAT3 isoforms α and β have unique and specific functions

Diego Maritano, Michelle L. Sugrue, Silvia Tininini, Sarah Dewilde, Birgit Strobl, XinPing Fu, Victoria Murray-Tait, Roberto Chiarle, Valeria Poli

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    189 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is the main mediator of interleukin 6 (IL-6)-type cytokine signaling. It exists in two isoforms: the full-length STAT3 and the truncated STAT3, generally thought to act as a dominant negative factor. To assess their relative functions, we ablated the expression of either isoform by gene targeting. We show here that in vivo STAT3 is not a dominant negative factor. Its expression can rescue the embryonic lethality of a STAT3-null mutation and it can by itself induce the expression of specific STAT3 target genes. Nevertheless, STAT3 has nonredundant roles such as modulation of cellular responses to IL-6 and mediation of IL-10 function in macrophages.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)401-409
    Number of pages9
    JournalNature Immunology
    Volume5
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2004

    Keywords

    • IL-10 GENE
    • GENE-EXPRESSION
    • TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR
    • NEGATIVE REGULATOR
    • STAT3-DEFICIENT MICE
    • ACUTE-PHASE RESPONSE
    • SIGNAL TRANSDUCER
    • C-JUN
    • CHRONIC ENTEROCOLITIS
    • IN-VIVO

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