Forkhead transcription factors of the O class (FOXOs) belong to a family of transcription factors that are characterized by their conserved DNA binding domain (forkhead box). Daf-16, the FOXO orthologue in Caenorhabditis elegans, has been identified as a target of insulin-like signaling through the Daf-2/AGE-1 pathway and is involved in formation of the Dauer stage (40,53). The FOXO subgroup in mammals consists of four members, FOXO1, FOXO3a, and FOXO4 (previously termed FKHR, FKHRL1, and AFX, respectively) and FOXO6 (7,24,33,62).FOXO transcription factors bind to DNA as monomers through their winged-helix domain at a consensus motif termed DBE (for Daf-16 family member binding element) with the core sequence TTGTTAC (23). A number of FOXO target genes have been identified so far (for review, see reference 28). FOXO target genes are involved in cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, metabolism, differentiation, and the stress response. It has been shown that FOXOs induce G 1 arrest through expression of p27 KIP1 and p130 (36,46,51) and increase the duration of the G 2 phase of the cell cycle by inducing cyclin G 2 (43). In lymphocytes, FOXO activation induces cell death through induction of Bim, Trail, and Fas ligand (9,48,66). Upregulation of glucose-6-phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase by FOXOs results in induction of gluconeogenesis (5, 30). The role of FOXO transcription factors in differentiation is less well understood and is cell type dependent. In adipocytes, FOXOs inhibit differentiation most likely through induction of p21, while FOXO activation induces erythroid differentiation through induction of BTG and is required for myoblast differentiation (4, 6, 50). Finally, induction of Mn-superoxide dismutase and catalase by FOXO is involved in detoxification of reactive oxygen species (19,34).Mammalian FOXO transcription factors are regulated through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) pathway. In the absence of growth factors, FOXOs are localized to the nucleus and transcriptionally active. Activation of Akt or SGK in response to growth factor stimulation induces phosphorylation of FOXO transcription factors at three highly conserved serine and threonine residues (9, 35). As a result, FOXO transcription factors translocate to the cytoplasm. Phos-* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Gene