TSLP
Description
The TSLP (thymic stromal lymphopoietin) is a protein-coding gene located on chromosome 5.
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an interleukin (IL)-2-like cytokine, alarmin, and growth factor involved in numerous physiological and pathological processes, primarily those of the immune system. It shares a common ancestor with IL-7. Originally appreciated for its role in immune cell proliferation and development, and then for its pivotal role in type 2 immune responses, TSLP is now known to be involved in other types of immune responses, autoimmune disease, and certain cancers. TSLP production has been observed in numerous species, including humans and mice. In humans, TSLP is encoded by the TSLP gene. Alternative splicing of TSLP results in two transcript variants, a long form (lfTSLP, or just TSLP) consisting of 159 amino acid residues, and a short form (sfTSLP) consisting of 63 amino acid residues. These variants use different initiation methionine codons and share a carboxy terminus. sfTSLP mRNA is constitutively expressed in normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE), normal human lung fibroblasts (NHLF), and bronchial smooth muscle cells (BSMC). sfTSLP mRNA expression is not significantly upregulated by inflammation. TSLP mRNA is not constitutively expressed in NHBE and has a low level of constitutive expression in NHLF and BSMC. TSLP mRNA expression is upregulated by certain Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands such as flagellin and poly(I:C), but not by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or macrophage-activating lipopeptide 2 (MALP-2).
[Isoform 1]: A cytokine that triggers the release of T-cell-attracting chemokines from monocytes, notably enhancing the maturation of CD11c(+) dendritic cells. It can induce allergic inflammation by directly activating mast cells.
TSLP is also known as -.
