TNFSF12
Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens
Tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 12 also known as TNF-related weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TNFSF12 gene.
01Function
TWEAK was discovered in 1997. The protein encoded by this gene is a cytokine that belongs to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family. This protein is a ligand for the FN14/TWEAKR receptor. This cytokine has overlapping signaling functions with TNF, but displays a much wider tissue distribution. Leukocytes are the main source of TWEAK including human resting and activated monocytes, dendritic cells and natural killer cells. TWEAK can induce apoptosis via multiple pathways of cell death in a cell type-specific manner. This cytokine is also found to promote proliferation and migration of endothelial cells, and thus acts as a regulator of angiogenesis.
02Clinical significance
Excessive activation of the TWEAK pathway in chronic injury has been described to promote pathological tissue changes including chronic inflammation, fibrosis and angiogenesis. In chronic liver disease, for example, TWEAK expression is enhanced and causes hepatic stellate cells, which are key regulators of liver fibrosis, to proliferate.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “TNFSF12”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Ideogram human chromosome 17.svg by National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Public domain
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