P78545

ESE1 (also designated ELF3) is a member of the Ets family of transcription factors, critically regulates epithelial cell differentiation and mediates vascular inflammation. ESE1 is strongly expressed in vascular endothelium and smooth muscle cells where it is induced in response to inflammatory cytokines and lipopolysaccharides, interacts with NF-KappaB to induce nitric oxide synthase, and is induced during terminal differentiation of epidermal and primary keratinocytes. In addition, ESE1 is upregulated upon differentiation of corneal epithelium and interacts with Sp1 and AP-1 proteins to induce squamous differentiation marker expression in bronchial epithelial cells.