title: Stabilization of the bioactivity of tumor necrosis factor by its soluble receptors.
abstract: The receptors for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) exist in cell-associated as well as soluble forms, both binding specifically to TNF. Since the soluble forms of TNF receptors (sTNF-Rs) can compete with the cell-associated TNF receptors for TNF, it was suggested that they function as inhibitors of TNF activity; at high concentrations, the sTNF-Rs indeed inhibit TNF effects. However, we report here that in the presence of low concentrations of the sTNF-Rs, effects of TNF whose induction depend on prolonged treatment with this cytokine are augmented, reflecting an attenuation by the sTNF-Rs of spontaneous TNF activity decay. Evidence that this stabilization of TNF activity by the sTNF-Rs follows from stabilization of TNF structure within the complexes that TNF forms with the sTNF-Rs is presented here, suggesting that the sTNF-Rs can affect TNF activity not only by interfering with its binding to cells but also by stabilizing its structure and preserving its activity, thus augmenting some of its effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine T, Tel-Aviv Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aderka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engelmann
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maor
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brakebusch
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wallach
mesh_terms: D002452:Cell Count; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha