This family of bacterial metallo-peptidases is thought to compromise the inflammatory response by degrading p65 thereby down-regulating the NF-kappaB signalling pathway [1]. NF-kappa-B is a pleiotropic transcription factor which is present in almost all cell types and is involved in many biological processes such as inflammation, immunity, differentiation, cell growth, tumorigenesis and apoptosis. NF-kappa-B is a homo- or heterodimeric complex formed by the Rel-like domain-containing proteins RELA/p65, RELB, NFKB1/p105, NFKB1/p50, REL and NFKB2/p52; and the heterodimeric p65-p50 complex appears to be most abundant one.

1: NleC, a Type III Secretion Protease, Compromises NF-kappaB Activation by Targeting p65/RelA. Yen H, Ooka T, Iguchi A, Hayashi T, Sugimoto N, Tobe T; PLoS Pathog. 2010;6:e1001231. PMID:21187904