Summary

The transcription factor NF-kB represents a protein structure that stabilizes the link between RNA polymerase and the promoter of the gene to be transcribed. NF-kB represents one of the most important transcription factors, indispensable for the transcription of a target gene.

The activation of transcription factors is evidenced by the products of genes to which NF-kB contributed to the transcription. In the case of NF-kB, they are products that stimulate inflammation (cytokines, chemokines, growth factors) or products that stimulate tumor proliferation by inhibiting apoptosis.

In pathological conditions, overactivation of NF-kB increases the transcription of genes encoding pro-inflammatory cytokines, forming the initiation and maintenance of inflammation. In tumor proliferation, NF-kB has an antiapoptotic action but also promotes metastasis, tumor vascularization, protumoral modifi-cations in the tumor mechanism. At the skin level, NF-kB is overexpressed in keratinocytes, immune cells, fibroblasts (atopic dermatitis) having an important role in the inflammatory processes that define these conditions. In the case of malignant melanoma, NF-kB is involved in the transcription of antiapoptotic genes favoring the survival of tumor cells. NF-kB also intervenes in the activity of the immune response checkpoints PD1 and CTLA-4.

Due to the major involvement of NF-kB in the pathology of these conditions, the possibility opens for NF-kB to become an important therapeutic target.

We present a series of aspects of the physiology and pathology of NF-kB with involvement in psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, malignant melanoma.