Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Signaling and Organogenesis

Kai You; Hui Gu; Zhengwei Yuan; Xuewen Xu

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.727075

Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Signaling and Organogenesis

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jul 30:9:727075. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.727075. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Kai You¹, Hui Gu², Zhengwei Yuan², Xuewen Xu^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
² Key Laboratory of Health Ministry for Congenital Malformation, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
³ Department of Urology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.

Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) plays important roles in processes such as immunomodulation, fever, inflammatory response, inhibition of tumor formation, and inhibition of viral replication. TNF-α and its receptors are ubiquitously expressed in developing organs and they regulate the survival, proliferation, and apoptosis of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and progenitor cells. TNF-α is an important inflammatory factor that also regulates the inflammatory response during organogenesis, and its cytotoxic effects can interfere with normal developmental processes, even leading to the onset of diseases. This review summarizes the various roles of TNF-α in organogenesis in terms of its secreting pattern, concentration-dependent activities, and interactions with other signaling pathways. We also explored new potential functions of TNF-α.

Keywords: cell communication; development; morphogenesis; organogenesis; tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Publication types

Review