Acetylation and sumoylation control STAT5 activation antagonistically

STAT5 proteins are activated by tyrosine phosphorylation, but recently further post-translation modifications such as serine/threonine phosphorylation, acetylation at lysine residues or sumoylation in close vicinity of the critical tyrosine residue have been reported. Here, we discuss new findings on impaired STAT5 signaling in lymphocytes isolated from a SUMO-specific protease knockout mouse (SENP1(−/−)), which results in sumoylated STAT5 and abolishes tyrosine phosphorylation. Van Nguyen and colleagues examined acetylation and sumoylation of STAT5 and found that both modifications act antagonistically to control tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT5.