IDENTIFICATION AND FUNCTIONAL-CHARACTERIZATION OF DR6, A NOVEL DEATH DOMAIN-CONTAINING TNF RECEPTOR

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors are key players in inflammation and immune regulation. A new member of this family, termed death recep tor-6 (DR6), has been identified, Like other death receptors, DR6 is a type I transmembrane receptor, possesses four extracellular cysteine- rich motifs and a cytoplasmic death domain, DR6 is expressed in most h uman tissues and abundant transcript was detected in heart, brain, pla centa, pancreas, thymus, lymph node and several non-lymphoid cancer ce ll lines, DR6 interacts with TRADD, which has previously been shown to associate with TNFR1. Furthermore, ectopic expression of DR6 in mamma lian cells induces apoptosis and activation of both NF-kappa B and JNK . (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.