STATs as activators of apoptosis.

STATs are a family of transcription factors that are activated in a ligand-dependent manner and promote the rapid induction of genes. They achieve this by directly transducing signals from the receptor into the nucleus. Consistent with their co-evolution with the cytokine family of ligands, studies have determined that STATs play a pivotal role in mediating the biological response for this family of ligands. However, STATs appear to have a dark side as well and contribute to programmed cell death. Intriguingly, a recent study suggests that this might occur in a manner that is distinct from the standard STAT signalling paradigm.