Entrez 4792 | Ensembl ENSG00000100906 | |
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Aliases NFKBIA, IKBA, MAD-3, NFKBI, NFKB inhibitor alpha External IDs OMIM: 164008 MGI: 104741 HomoloGene: 7863 GeneCards: NFKBIA | ||
IκBα (nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor, alpha) is one member of a family of cellular proteins that function to inhibit the NF-κB transcription factor. IκBα inhibits NF-κB by masking the nuclear localization signals (NLS) of NF-κB proteins and keeping them sequestered in an inactive state in the cytoplasm. In addition, IκBα blocks the ability of NF-κB transcription factors to bind to DNA, which is required for NF-κB's proper functioning.
Contents
Disease linkage
The gene encoding the IκBα protein is mutated in some Hodgkin's lymphoma cells; such mutations inactivate the IκBα protein, thus causing NF-κB to be chronically active in the lymphoma tumor cells and this activity contributes to the malignant state of these tumor cells.
Interactions
IκBα has been shown to interact with: