Figure 2.

The left side of the figure depicts activation of NF-κB occuring only in the presence of a fully assembled IKK complex composed of 3 catalytic subunits: IKKα and IKKβ that bind to the regulatory subunit IKKγ, also known as NEMO. Following a stimulus for activation of NF-κB by inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α the intact IKK complex promotes phosphorylation and degradation of IkB proteins, which in turn unmasks a nuclear localization signal permitting NF-κB translocation to the nucleus and subsequent transcription of cytokine and chemokine genes that enhance the inflammatory process. The consequences of adding NEMO binding domain (NBD) peptide (red) are depicted. NBD is an 11 amino acid peptide that binds to the c-terminal region of both IKKα & IKKβ inhibiting the formation of active IKK complex. Consequently, downstream signaling events are blocked.