Fator de transcrição nuclear kappa B no sistema nervoso central: do fisiológico ao patológico

First discovered in T cells, the nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-kB) has been described in all mammalian cells, regulating the expression of several genes, mainly those related to immune response. In the central nervous system gene expression regulated by NF-kB is of particular importance since it may be involved in both physiological conditions (synapse, development and neural plasticity) and pathological conditions that result in cell death. In this review we describe the two main forms of NF-kB activation and the participation of this factor in different processes of central nervous system. Keywords: canonical and non-canonical pathways, cell survival, neurodegenerative diseases