Nuclear translocation of upstream stimulating factor 2 (USF2) in activated mast cells: A possible role in their survival

Multiple transcription factors are activated in the cytoplasm and translocated to the nucleus where they exert positive or negative control over cellular genes. Such subcellular traffic of transcription factors usually requires the presence of a positively charged nuclear localization sequence (NLS). Upstream stimulating factor 2 (USF2) is one of the few transcription factors that contain two potential domains for nuclear localization. In addition to the conventional basic NLS, USF2 contains a highly conserved USF-specific region that is involved in its nuclear translocation. In the present work, the induction of translocation of USF2 into the mast cell nucleus was observed and found to be dependent on activation of the cells either by IL-3 or IgE-Ag. It was also observed that the prevention of the translocation of USF2 to the nucleus, using a peptide derived from the specific USF-NLS region, significantly inhibited their IL-3-mediated survival. Thus, our findings show a direct connection between mast cell surface receptor-mediated USF2 nuclear translocation and cell viability.