Description
Tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 18, also known as AITRL or GITRL, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TNFSF18 gene. The protein encoded by this gene is a cytokine that belongs to the tumor necrosis factor(TNF) ligand family. It is mapped to 1q25.1. TNFSF18 is a ligand for receptor TNFRSF18/AITR/GITR. It has been shown to modulate T lymphocyte survival in peripheral tissues. This cytokine is also found to be expressed in endothelial cells, and is thought to be important for interaction between T lymphocytes and endothelial cells. TNFSF18-dependent modulation of tryptophan catabolism may represent an important mechanism of action of glucocorticoids, both physiologically and therapeutically