Schindler Lab Christian Schindler,M.D.,Ph. The JAK-STAT pathway mediates the transduction of high fidelity signals directly from the receptor to the nucleus.
Cells are dependent on environmental cues for normal growth.
Cytokines, a family of small glycoproteins, constitute one important family of extracellular cues. Upon binding specific transmembrane spanning receptors, they activate intracellular signals that regulate gene expression. Activated STATs dimerize, translocate to the nucleus and bind to specific regulatory elements in the promoters of genes, culminating in their activation. Biochemical and genetic studies have determined that STATs transduce vital signals for many ligands. In mammals, STATs predominately transduce signals for the cytokine family, and therefore play an important role in immune response.