Proto-oncogene c-Rel (REL)

NF-kappa-B is a pleiotropic transcription factor that's present in almost all cell types and is involved in several biological processed such as inflammation, immunity, differentiation, cell growth, tumorigenesis and apoptosis. NF- kappa-B is a homo- or heterodimeric complex formed by the Rel-like domain-containing proteins RELA/p65, RELB, NFKB1/p105, NFKB1/p50, REL and NFKB2/p52.

The dimers bind at kappa-B sites in the DNA of their target genes and the individual dimers have distinct preferences for different kappa-B sites which they can bind with distinguishable affinity and specificity. Different dimer combinations act as transcriptional activators or repressors, respectively.