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Inamm. Res. (2013) 62:641651DOI 10.1007/s00011-013-0633-0 Inammation Research
REVIEW
TNF-a signalling and inammation: interactions between old acquaintances
Hana Zelov Jan Hoek
Received: 27 August 2012 / Revised: 3 March 2013 / Accepted: 6 May 2013 / Published online: 18 May 2013 Springer Basel 2013
AbstractIntroduction Inammation is a very important part of innate immunity and is regulated in many steps. One such regulating step is the cytokine network, where tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a) plays one of the most important roles.
Methods A PubMed and Web of Science databases search was performed for studies providing evidences on the role of TNF-a in inammation, apoptosis, and cancer.
Results and Conclusion This review concisely summarizes the role of this pro-inammatory cytokine during inammation. It is focused mainly on TNF-a intracellular signaling and its inuence on the typical inammatory features in the organism. Being one of the most important pro-inammatory cytokines, TNF-a participates in vasodilatation and edema formation, and leukocyte adhesion to epithelium through expression of adhesion molecules; it regulates blood coagulation, contributes to oxidative stress in sites of inammation, and indirectly induces fever. The connection between TNF-a and cancer is mentioned as well.
Keywords TNF-a TNFR Inammation Apoptosis
Cancer
Introduction
Human immunity is a very complex apparatus which protects our body not only against external enemies, such as microbes and viruses, but also against our own damaged or
malfunctioning tissues. One of the rst protective barriers is inammation, a part of innate immunity. An important component of immunity is the inammatory response in which cytokine tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a) plays a key role in. Its importance is attested by the fact that TNF-a is the target of drugs used for the treatment of some diseases, e.g., Iniximaba monoclonal antibody against TNF-ais used to cure Crohns disease.
This short review is focused on describing the basic properties of TNF-a and its role during inammation.
TNF-a and the TNF receptor superfamily
Tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a, also known as cachectin) is a strong pro-inammatory cytokine which plays an important role in the immune system during inammation, cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis [1]. It was rst described by Carwell et al., in 1975 as a cytokine which showed signicant cytotoxic activity after stimulation of the immune system, and, thus, caused...