The Fos proteins(c-Fos, FosB, Fra1 and Fra2), which cannot homodimerize, form stable heterodimers with Jun proteins and thereby enhance their DNA binding activity.
On activation of the MAPK pathway, Ser-374 of Fos is phosphorylated by ERK1/2 and Ser-362 is phosphorylated by RSK1/2, the latter kinases being activated by ERK1/2. If stimulation of the MAPK pathway is sufficiently sustained, ERK1/2 can dock on an upstream FTYP amino acid motif, called the DEF domain (docking site for ERKs, FXFP), and phosphorylate Thr-331 and Thr-325.
Phosphorylation at specific sites enhances the transactivating potential of several AP-1 proteins, including Jun and Fos, without having any effect on their DNA binding activities. Thus, phosphorylation of Ser-362 and Ser-374 stabilizes c-Fos but has no demonstrated role in the control of transcriptional activity. On the contrary, phosphorylation of Thr-325 and Thr-331 enhances c-Fos transcriptional activity but has no demonstrated effect on protein turnover.
