Nuclear Factor of activated T Cells (NFAT)

Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) proteins are a family of Ca²⁺/calcineurin-dependent transcription factors that were initially identified as inducible nuclear factors that could bind the interleukin-2 (IL-2) promoter in activated T cells. However, when all of the proteins of the NFAT family had been isolated and molecularly characterized, it became clear that their expression was not limited to T cells. Recent work has uncovered new regulatory roles for NFAT proteins in diverse organs, including the central nervous system, blood vessels, heart, kidney, bone, skeletal muscle and haematopoietic stem cells. For examples, cells in the vessel wall display a diverse array of Ca²⁺ signaling modalities, which are subject to change during disease. The fact that NFAT proteins are able to decode and translate these signals into changes in gene expression makes them potential regulators of vascular pathogenesis.