Signal transduction and gene control: the cAMP pathway.

The transcriptional activity of a gene can be regulated by a multitude of trans-acting factors that interact with specific cis-acting elements, mostly located in the promoter regions. The function of transcription factors is modulated by intracellular signal transduction pathways, which are activated by specific ligands binding to the appropriate membrane receptors. Here we discuss the links between the activation of the adenylyl cyclase pathway and the transcriptional response of cAMP-inducible genes that is achieved by the interplay of a multitude of nuclear transcription factors such as CREB and CREM.