세포 배양액에 tetracycline이 없는 경우 FADD를 발현하면서 사멸하는 평활근세포 (FADD-SMC)에서 분비하는 $TNF-alpha$의 활성을 조사하였다. 배양액에 tetracycline이 없는 경우 FADD-SMC는 약 1000 pg/ml의 $TNF-alpha$를 분비하였다. $TNF-alpha$를 포함하는 배양액을 분리하고, 이 배양액을 정상세포에 처리한 결과 인산화한 p38 MAPK와 nuclear, factor, kappa B (NF-kB)의 활성이 증가하였다. 또한 이 배양액을 L929 세포에 처리하는 경우 세포독성이 발생하였다. NF-kB, p38 MAPK 그리고 L929 세포에 대찬 효과는 배양액에서 suluble TNF receptor를 이용하여 $TNF-alpha$를 제거하는 경우 감소하였다.
This study investigated biological activity of tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-alpha$ secreted from smooth muscle cell (SMC) destined for death by expressing Fas associated death domain containing protein (FADD) (FADD-SMC) when the cells are grown without tetracycline in culture medium. In the absence of tetracycline the FADD-SMC secreted approximately 1000 pg/ml $TNF-alpha$, whereas hardly detectable amount of the cytokine existed in the presence of tetracycline. The culture medium collected from the FADD-SMC grown in the absence of tetracycline increased phosphorylated form of p38 MAPK and up-regulated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB). The medium collected without tetracycline also caused death of L929 cells. Depletion of $TNF-alpha$ with the soluble TNF receptor (sTNFR) inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, the up-regulation of NF-kB activity and the death activity of the medium collected from FADD-SMC in the absence of tetracycline. These results indicate that $TNF-alpha$ secreted from SMC undergoing death is biologically active and can affect cellular function.
