CD7 (CD7 Molecule) is a Protein Coding gene. This gene encodes a transmembrane protein which is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. This protein is found on thymocytes and mature T cells and also on natural killer (NK) cells. It plays an essential role in T-cell interactions and also in T-cell/B-cell interaction during early lymphoid development. The encoded protein functions as a costimulatory receptor in T-cell activation upon binding to its ligand SECTM1 (secreted and transmembrane 1), mediating the production of cytokines such as IL-2. CD7 is useful as a marker for T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemias. Alternative splice variants have been described but their full-length sequences have not been determined.
CD16, also named FC gamma RIII, is a low or intermediate affinity FC receptor, and has been identified as two receptors including FcγRIIIa (CD16a) and FcγRIIIb (CD16b). It is involved in phagocytosis, secretion of enzymes and inflammatory mediators, antibody-dependent cytotoxicity and clearance of immune complexes. NFAT proteins, which are expressed in most immune-system cells, play a pivotal role in the transcription of cytokine genes and other genes critical for the immune response. Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), which is the pharmacological target of immunosuppressants cyclosporine and tacrolimus, has been shown to play an important role not only in T cells (immune system), from which their ame is derived, but also in many biological events. The activity of NFAT proteins is tightly regulated by the calcium/calmodulin-dependent phosphatase calcineurin, a primary target for inhibition by cyclosporin A and FK506. Calcineurin controls the translocation of NFAT proteins from the cytoplasm to the nucleus of activated cells by interacting with an N-terminal regulatory domain conserved in the NFAT family. The DNA-binding domains of NFAT proteins resemble those of Rel-family proteins, and Rel and NFAT proteins show some overlap in their ability to bind to certain regulatory elements in cytokine genes. NFAT is also notable for its ability to bind cooperatively with transcription factors of the AP-1 (Fos/Jun) family to composite NFAT: AP-1 sites, found in the regulatory regions of many genes that are inducibly transcribed by immune-system cells.
