Recombinant Rat sTNF RII/TNFRSF1B Protein, CF

TNF RII is expressed predominantly on cells of the hematopoietic lineage, such as T and natural killer cells, as well as on endothelial cells, microglia, astrocytes, neurons, oligodendrocytes, cardiac myocytes, and thymocytes (6, 8, 9). In humans, TNF RII is also located on mesenchymal stem cells (6, 9, 10). TNF RII binds to the membrane-bound forms of TNF-alpha and Lymphotoxin-alpha /TNF-beta ; soluble TNF is thought to signal predominately through TNF RI (7, 11). TNF RII activation primarily initiates pro-inflammatory and pro-survival responses via NF kappaB-dependent signaling pathways (6, 7, 12-15). However, under certain conditions, TNF RII signaling can induce apoptosis (6). TNF RII also exists as a soluble receptor, which can be generated by proteolytic cleavage of its ECD from the cell surface or by alternative splicing (2  16). Soluble TNF RII is believed to inhibit TNF biological activity by binding TNF thereby preventing it from activating membrane TNF receptors (17). Polymorphisms of the human TNFR2 gene, which result in increased expression of both membrane-bound and soluble TNF RII, have been associated with several autoimmune diseases including Crohn’s disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and familial rheumatoid arthritis (6, 17).