The African swine fever virus protein A238L inhibits activation of NFAT transcription factor by binding calcineurin and inhibiting its phosphatase activity. NFAT controls the expression of many immunomodulatory proteins. Here we describe a 14-amino-acid region of A238L that is needed and sufficient for binding to calcineurin. By introducing mutations within this region, we have identified a mot...

Calcineurin is a heteromeric Ca(2+)-dependent serine/threonine phosphatase. It dephosphorylates the transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) in the cytoplasm, which subsequently undergoes nuclear translocation. NFAT regulates numerous biological processes, including inflammatory T cell responses and cardiac development. Our study identifies the Cysteine-Rich with EGF-Like...

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by a complex mode of inheritance. Forebrain-specific CNB knockout mice display a spectrum of behavioral abnormalities related to altered behaviors observed in schizophrenia patients. To examine whether calcineurin dysfunction is involved in schizophrenia etiology, we undertook studies of an initial subset of calcineurin-related genes,...

The Dictyostelium genome harbors single copy genes for both the catalytic and regulatory subunits of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin. Since molecular genetic approaches to reduce the expression of these genes have failed so far, we attempted to pharmacologically target calcineurin activity in vivo by using the recently described calcineurin inhibitor, gossypol. Up-...

BACKGROUND Cardiac hypertrophy is a fundamental adaptive response to hemodynamic overload; how mechanical load induces cardiac hypertrophy, however, remains elusive. It was recently reported that activation of a calcium-dependent phosphatase, calcineurin, induces cardiac hypertrophy. In the present study, we examined whether calcineurin plays a critical role in pressure overload-induced cardiac...

Calcineurin, a Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein phosphatase, regulates Ca2+-dependent processes in a wide variety of cells. In the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, calcineurin effects Ca2+-dependent changes in gene expression through regulation of the Crz1p transcription factor. We show here that calcineurin dephosphorylates Crz1p and that this results in translocation of Crz1p to the nucleus....

The polyketides FK506 (tacrolimus) and FK520 (ascomycin) are potent immunosuppressants that function by inhibiting calcineurin phosphatase through formation of an FKBP12-FK506/520-calcineurin ternary complex. They also have calcineurin-independent neuroregenerative properties in cell culture and animal models of nervous system disorders. Based on the crystal structure of the FKBP12-FK506-calcin...

Calcineurin is a conserved Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase that plays a critical role in Ca(2+)-mediated signaling in many cells. Yeast cells lacking functional calcineurin (cna1 cna2 or cnb1 mutants) display growth defects under specific environmental conditions, for example, in the presence of high concentrations of Na+, Li+, Mn2+, or OH- but are indistinguishable from wild-type...

The tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene is rapidly transcribed in activated T cells via a calcium-dependent pathway that does not require de novo protein synthesis, but is completely blocked by the immunosuppressive drugs cyclosporin A (CsA) and FK506. Here we show that calcineurin phosphatase activity is both necessary and sufficient for TNF-alpha gene transcription in T cells, and id...

Calcineurin is a conserved Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase that plays a critical role in Ca-mediated signaling in many cells. Yeast cells lacking functional calcineurin (cna1 cna2 or cnb1 mutants) display growth defects under specific environmental conditions, for example, in the presence of high concentrations of Na, Li, Mn, or OH but are indistinguishable from wild-type cells unde...