FIG. 9.

The role of TRAF2 and TRAF6 in CD40-mediated signaling: a proposed model. Based on the data shown in the present study, we propose that the direct binding of TRAF6 only partly contributes to the activation of NF-κB (dotted arrow), whereas the binding of TRAF2 plays a major role in CD40L-induced signal transduction (solid arrows). TRAF6 also associates with TRAF2 and controls the function of the CD40/TRAF2 signaling complex. We propose that the TRAF2-TRAF6 interaction is required for the recruitment of kinases responsible for the engagement of the NF-κB, JNK, p38, and Akt pathways.