Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Nov 26, 2015; 6(4): 324-332
Published online Nov 26, 2015. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v6.i4.324
Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 regulation by novel binding partners
Tadashi Matsuda, Ryuta Muromoto, Yuichi Sekine, Sumihito Togi, Yuichi Kitai, Shigeyuki Kon, Kenji Oritani
Tadashi Matsuda, Ryuta Muromoto, Yuichi Sekine, Sumihito Togi, Yuichi Kitai, Shigeyuki Kon, Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0812, Japan
Kenji Oritani, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Tadashi Matsuda, PhD, Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-Ku Kita 12 Nishi 6, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan. tmatsuda@pharm.hokudai.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-11-7063243 Fax: +81-11-7064990
Received: January 20, 2015
Peer-review started: January 20, 2015
First decision: April 10, 2015
Revised: August 24, 2015
Accepted: September 1, 2015
Article in press: September 2, 2015
Published online: November 26, 2015
Abstract

Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) mediate essential signals for various biological processes, including immune responses, hematopoiesis, and neurogenesis. STAT3, for example, is involved in the pathogenesis of various human diseases, including cancers, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. STAT3 activation is therefore tightly regulated at multiple levels to prevent these pathological conditions. A number of proteins have been reported to associate with STAT3 and regulate its activity. These STAT3-interacting proteins function to modulate STAT3-mediated signaling at various steps and mediate the crosstalk of STAT3 with other cellular signaling pathways. This article reviews the roles of novel STAT3 binding partners such as DAXX, zipper-interacting protein kinase, Krüppel-associated box-associated protein 1, Y14, PDZ and LIM domain 2 and signal transducing adaptor protein-2, in the regulation of STAT3-mediated signaling.

Keywords: Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription, Signal transduction, Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, DAXX, Zipper-interacting protein kinase, Krüppel-associated box-associated protein 1, Y14, PDZ and LIM domain 2, Signal transducing adaptor protein-2, Nuclear factor-κB

Core tip: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) has been proposed its physiological and pathological significance in malignant and inflammatory diseases; therefore, the targeting of the STAT3 pathways is likely to be suitable for clinical application. In this review, we introduced novel regulatory molecules of STAT3 binding partners, such as DAXX, zipper-interacting protein kinase, Krüppel-associated box-associated protein 1, Y14, PDZ and LIM domain 2 and signal transducing adaptor protein-2. These proteins positively or negatively regulate critical steps of STAT3-mediated signals via individually unique mechanism. We hope that the information described here will help to develop a new strategy to clinically control the STAT3 activities.