NFAT5 and autoimmune disease: Nevertheless, recent findings have suggested the presence of hypertonic stress in certain tissue microenvironments (Go et al., 2004; Machnik et al., 2009), and NFAT5 activation has been associated with a plethora of physiological and pathological processes, including blood pressure regulation, inflammation and development of autoimmune diseases (Machnik et al., 2009; Kleinewietfeld et al., 2013).