Reverse genetics applied to immunobiology of tumor necrosis factor, a multifunctional cytokine (mini-review)

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Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is one of many cytokines – protein molecules responsible for communication between cells of the immune system. TNF was discovered and given its grand name because of its striking antitumor effect in an experimental system, but its main physiological functions in the context of the whole organism turned out to be completely unrelated to tumor protection. This short review discusses “man-made” mouse models generated by early genome-editing technologies, which enabled us to establish the true functions of TNF in health and some diseases as well as to unravel potential strategies for improving the therapy of TNF-dependent diseases.