Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Sci. STKE, 5 August 2003
Vol. 2003, Issue 194, p. cm5
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.1942003cm5]

CONNECTIONS MAP OVERVIEWS

The FasL-Fas Signaling Network

Harald Wajant*

Department of Molecular Internal Medicine, Medical Polyclinic, University of Wuerzburg Roentgenring 11, 97070 Wuerzburg, Germany.

stkecm;CMP_7966

Abstract: Fas ligand (FasL; also known as APO-1L or CD95L) belongs to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family, and its corresponding receptor, Fas (also known as APO-1 or CD95), is a typical member of the death receptor subgroup of the TNF receptor superfamily. Both molecules were originally identified through their apoptosis-inducing capabilities. In recent years, however, roles for Fas and FasL in nonapoptotic processes have become apparent. Fas and FasL have been implicated in such diverse processes as activation-induced cell death (AICD) in T cells, cytotoxic T cell (CTL) function, immune privilege, tumor surveillance, T cell proliferation, dendritic cell differentiation, cardiac hypertrophy, and neurite growth. Many fundamental aspects of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway, including the identification of the death domain, the definition of the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC), the cell type-specific dependency of death receptor induced apoptosis from a mitochondrial amplification loop, and the mechanisms of procaspase activation, were initially identified in the context of Fas-FasL-related studies; thus, this system is a paradigm for apoptotic death receptor signaling. The canonical Fas signaling pathway depicted in the Connections Map provides a comprehensive overview of the molecules and their relations that contribute to the complex signaling network triggered by Fas-FasL interaction.

Science Viewpoint

H. Wajant, The Fas signaling pathway: More than a paradigm. Science 296, 1635-1636 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]

*Contact information. Telephone, 49-931-201-71000; fax, 49-931-201-71070; e-mail, harald.wajant{at}mail.uni-wuerzburg.de

Citation: H. Wajant, The FasL-Fas Signaling Network. Sci. STKE 2003, cm5 (2003).

To Advertise     Find Products

Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (online), 1945-0877 (print). Pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882