Abstract

Cytokines and chemokines play a very important role in a number of inflammatory diseases. In activated T cells, transcription factors such as the activator protein-1 (AP-1) regulate IL-2 production and production of matrix metalloproteinases, the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is essential for the transcriptional regulation of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-6, IL-8 and TNFα, and nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) is required for the transcriptional regulation of IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-8, IL-13, TNFα, and GM-CSF. During the last few years, several groups have developed inhibitors of AP-1, NF-κB or both, and NFAT. This review article presents the recent progress in the development of inhibitors for AP-1, NF-κB, and NFAT mediated transcriptional activation.

Keywords: Inhibitors, AP-1, NF-B, Transcriptional Activation, Autoimmune Diseases, Cytokines, chemokines, AP-1 PATHWAY, NF-kB PATHWAY, Erythromycin