c-myb transcription is activated by protein kinase B (PKB) following interleukin 2 stimulation of T cells and is required for PKB-mediated protection from apoptosis

During T-cell activation, c-Myb is induced upon interleukin 2 (IL-2) stimulation and is required for correct proliferation of cells. In this paper, we provide evidence that IL-2-mediated induction of the c-myb gene occurs via the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway, that protein kinase B (PKB) is the principal transducer of this signal, and that activation of the c-myb promoter can be abolished by deletion of conserved E2F and NF-kappaB binding sites. We show that Myb is required to protect activated peripheral T cells from bcl-2-independent apoptosis and that overexpression of oncogenic v-Myb is antiapoptotic. Overexpression of a Myb dominant-negative transgene abrogates PKB-mediated protection from apoptosis. Taken together, these results suggest that induction of c-myb transcription is an important downstream event for PKB-mediated protection of T cells from programmed cell death.