Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry

The cell homeostasis is regulated by numerous signaling proteins. Their common task is to process extracellular signals by triggering cascades of intracellular reactions leading to modulation of down-stream gene activities. One of the important signaling pathways is represented by the STAT family, comprising seven participants. Various STATs operate as the powerful transcription factors delivering cytokine and growth factor signals into nucleus. The first found out and most well studied member of this family is STAT1. This review summarized some modern data on the role of STAT1 in maintening cellular homeostasis, and the special attention is focused on a role of this protein in proliferation, cell growth and apoptosis processes. It is shown, that infringements in functioning of this molecule may contribute to oncogenesis.