Tumour Necrosis Factor and Related Cytotoxins

The number of factors implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation is already considerable and more are continually being identified. This book concentrates on tumor necrosis factor (cachectin) and lymphotoxin, but includes observations of their interactions with other cytokines, especially the interferons and interleukins. TNF can be either cytostatic or cytotoxic to cultured cell lines, and a variety of mechanisms are proposed, ranging from DNA fragmentation to activation of phospholiopases. TNF is also reported to stimulate the growth of normal fibroblasts in vivo. The in vivo actions of TNF described here include haemorrhagic necrosis of tumo…