STAT1(signal transducer and activator of transcription 1) has been implicated as a mediator of a variety of biological responses in response to stimulation by specific growth factors and cytokines. To understand better the role of STAT1 in the interferon-␥ (IFN-␥)-induced phenotype, we generated an active form of STAT1 (STAT1C) by substituting Cys residues for both Arg-656 and Asn-658 within the C-terminal loop of the STAT1 SH2 domain. The IFN-␥ activation site element was stimulated and bound efficiently by STAT1C without IFN-␥ treatment. STAT1C was found to be tyrosine-phosphorylated in the nucleus for more than 30 h after IFN-␥ stimulation. STAT1-negative U3A cells reexpressing STAT1C showed retarded cell growth and underwent apoptosis when treated with IFN-␥. Further analysis demonstrated that apoptosis was preceded by proteolytic cleavage of caspases 2, 3, and 7, and wild type STAT1 also induced cleavage of caspase 7 when expressed in STAT1-negative U3A cells, indicating that STAT1C augments potential activity of wild type STAT1. Studies with cycloheximide treatment showed that protein synthesis induced in the first 24 h after IFN-␥ treatment was required for apoptosis under these conditions. Finally, we found that STAT1C-induced apoptosis was, in part, mediated by caspase 2, 3, and 7 because benzyloxycarbonyl-valyl-aspartyl-valyl-alanyl-aspartic acid fluoromethyl ketone (Z-VDVAD-FMK) treatment partially blocked apoptosis. These results suggest that prolonged nuclear localization of activated STAT1 results in apoptosis involving specific regulation of caspase pathway.Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1 1 plays an important role in such IFN-␥-induced biological responses as tumor surveillance (1-4), the immune response (5, 6), and cell growth control (7,8). It has been suggested that it serves as a tumor suppressor by activating proapoptotic pathways (3, 9 -14).In response to IFN-␥ stimulation, STAT1 becomes phosphorylated on Tyr-701 and forms a homodimer through reciprocal SH2-phosphotyrosine interactions. Phosphorylation on Tyr-701 is required for subsequent nuclear translocation, DNA binding, and gene activation (15)(16)(17). Tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1 is regulated both by Jak1/Jak2 protein-tyrosine kinases and by protein-tyrosine phosphatase. Significantly, treatment with sodium vanadate, a protein-tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, can sustain the phosphorylation of Tyr-701, preventing down-regulation of STAT1 transcriptional activity (18,19). Biochemical analysis has demonstrated that dephosphorylated STAT1 is rapidly exported back into the cytoplasm and takes part in subsequent activation-inactivation cycles and that loss of dephosphorylation leads to prolonged STAT1 activation in the nucleus (20 -27).STAT1 has been implicated in apoptosis in response to IFN-␥ stimulation. Mutant forms of STAT1 lacking the N-terminal 62 amino acid residues or carrying a single amino acid substitution of Ala-31 for Arg-31 inhibited STAT1 tyrosine dephosphorylation and greatly enhanced the anti...