IL-2 delivery to CD8 T cells during infection requires MRTF/SRF-dependent gene expression and cytoskeletal dynamics.

Paracrine IL-2 signalling drives the CD8 + T cell expansion and differentiation that allow protection against viral infections, but the underlying molecular events are incompletely understood. Here we show that the transcription factor SRF, a master regulator of cytoskeletal gene expression, is required for effective IL-2 signalling during L. monocytogenes infection.

Mutation in PHACTR1 associated with multifocal epilepsy with infantile spasms and hypsarrhythmia.

A young boy with multifocal epilepsy with infantile spasms and hypsarrhythmia with minimal organic lesions of brain structures underwent DNA diagnosis using whole-exome sequencing. A heterozygous amino-acid substitution p.L519R in a PHACTR1 gene was identified.

RPEL-family rhoGAPs link Rac/Cdc42 GTP loading to G-actin availability.

RPEL proteins, which contain the G-actin-binding RPEL motif, coordinate cytoskeletal processes with actin dynamics. We show that the ArhGAP12- and ArhGAP32-family GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) are RPEL proteins. We determine the structure of the ArhGAP12/G-actin complex, and show that G-actin contacts the RPEL motif and GAP domain sequences.

ERK Signaling Controls Innate-like CD8 T Cell Differentiation via the ELK4 (SAP-1) and ELK1 Transcription Factors.

In mouse thymocyte development, signaling by the TCR through the ERK pathway is required for positive selection of conventional naive T cells. The Ets transcription factor ELK4 (SAP-1), an ERK-regulated cofactor of the SRF transcription factor, plays an important role in positive selection by activating immediate-early genes such as the Egr transcription factor family. The role of ELK4-SRF signaling in development of other T cell types dependent on ERK signaling has been unclear.