The human ATFa proteins belong to the CREB/ATF family of transcription factors. We have previously shown that the ATFa proteins may contribute to the modulation of the transcriptional activity of the Jun/Fos complexes (Chatton et al. (1994). Oncogene, 9, 375-385). We now show that a protein kinase activity is strongly associated with ATFa in vivo, as revealed by coimmunoprecipitation of ATFa/kinase complexes from whole cell extracts, with antibodies against ATFa. Two independent regions were found to be implicated in kinase binding: a major interaction site is located within the N-terminal 82 residues comprising an important metal-chelating element; a weaker binding site corresponds to the basic sequence element preceding the C-terminal leucine-zipper of ATFa. Induction experiments suggest that each of these ATFa domains may interact with different kinases. The major activity is associated with the ATFa N-terminal domain. Based on its response to various inducers, on both in vitro and in vivo binding assays, and on its immunological properties, this activity most likely corresponds to the 54/55 kDa JNK2 protein. Taken together, these observations suggest that the ATFa proteins, among other CREB/ATF proteins, may be important effectors of cell signalling pathways.