title: Failure of germinal center formation and impairment of response to endotoxin in tumor necrosis factor alpha-deficient mice.
abstract: To study the pathophysiologic roles of TNF alpha, we produced TNF alpha gene-disrupted mice by gene targeting. TNF alpha-deficient mice develop normally without any alteration in the lymphocyte populations. However, in these mice, the germinal center formation in the peripheral lymphoid organs failed in response to the T cell-dependent antigens. TNF alpha-deficient mice are resistant to lethal doses of endotoxin and D-galactosamine without hepatocyte apoptosis, yet demonstrate thymus apoptosis. Our results indicated an important role for TNF alpha in germinal center formation and in the sepsis-induced hepatocyte apoptosis that precedes liver failure.
authors.affiliation: Animal Genome Analysis Team, STAFF-Institute, Tsukuba City, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Momotani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekikawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000276:immunology*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D007109:Immunity / Q000235:genetics*; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000196:embryology* / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004731:Endotoxins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha