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The NFAT family of transcription factors encompasses five proteins evolutionarily related to the Rel/NFκB family (Chytil and Verdine 1996; Graef et al. 2001b). The primordial family member is NFAT5, the only NFAT-related protein represented in the Drosophila genome. NFAT5 is identical to TonEBP (tonicity element binding protein), a transcription factor crucial for cellular responses to hypertonic stress (López-Rodríguez et al. 1999; Miyakawa et al. 1999). We focus here on the remaining four NFAT proteins (NFAT1–NFAT4, also known as NFATc1–c4; see Table 1), referring to them collectively as NFAT.

The distinguishing feature of NFAT is its regulation by Ca2+ and the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent serine phosphatase calcineurin. NFAT proteins are phosphorylated and reside in the cytoplasm in resting cells; upon stimulation, they are dephosphorylated by calcineurin, translocate to the nucleus, and become …