Current overview of functions of FoxO proteins, with special regards to cellular homeostasis, cell response to stress, as well as inflammation and aging

FoxO transcription factors act at the interconnections between metabolic pathways inducible by many important signal transducers and mediators, such as p53, Ikk-beta, NFKB, Akt, sirtuins, PTEN, and others. This may account for a crucial significance of disruptions in FoxO functions both in many kinds of diseases (including cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases, degenerative diseases, obesity, polymetabolic syndrome) and in some disease-like conditions (such as inflammaging, cachexia related to chronic inflammation, cancer-promotion by some chronic inflammatory responses, and the aging process itself). This paper reviews complex interactions between FoxOs and other signal transducers, trying to pinpoint how exactly disruptions of FoxO functions may occur, and how they may contribute to occurrence, development or complications of the conditions mentioned above.