TNFSF12

TNF superfamily member 12 (TNFSF12), also referred to as TNF-related weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK), is a protein that belongs to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family. TNFSF12 binds to the FN14/TWEAKR receptor, a cell surface-associated type II transmembrane protein. TNFSF12 shares similarities and has overlapping signaling functions with TNF, but displays a much wider tissue distribution. TNFSF12 has two forms which include membrane-bound and secreted forms. It can induce apoptosis by a variety of pathways of cell death in a cell type-specific manner. TNFSF12 is found to promote proliferation and migration of endothelial cells. In addition, TNFSF12 acts as a regulator of angiogenesis. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. It's worth noting that some transcripts do not contain the last exon of TNFSF12 gene and continue into the second exon of the neighboring TNFSF13 gene. Such read-through transcripts are contained in GeneID 407977, TNFSF12-TNFSF13.
The activation of the TNFSF12 has been reported to promote pathological tissue changes which include chronic inflammation, fibrosis and angiogenesis. In chronic liver diseases, the expression of TNFSF12 is enhanced and causes hepatic stellate cells to proliferate. TNFSF12 is reported to be involved in a number of diseases such as increasing breast cancer cell invasion.
Entrez Gene ID: 8742
UniProt ID: O43508