Lipids and signal transduction in the nucleus

During the last few years a growing amount of data has accumulated showing phospholipid par tic i pa tion in nu clear sig nal transduction. Very re cent data strongly sup port the hy poth e sis that sig nal transduction in the nu cleus is au to nomic. Lo cal pro duc tion of inositol polyphosphates, be gin ning with the ac ti va tion of phospholipase C is required for their specific function in the nucleus. Enzymes which modify poly- phosphoinositols may control gene expression. Much less information is available about the role of other lipids in nuclear signal transduction. The aim of this minireview is to stress what is cur rently known about nu clear lipids with re spect to nu clear sig nal transduction.