Fas Ligand (FasL), also known as CD178, CD95L, or TNFSF6, is a 40 kDa type II transmembrane member of the TNF superfamily of proteins. Its ability to induce apoptosis in target cells plays an important role in the development, homeostasis, and function of the immune system (1). Mature human Fas Ligand consists of a 179 amino acid (aa) extracellular domain (ECD), a 22 aa transmembrane segment, and a 80 aa cytoplasmic domain (2). Within the ECD, human Fas Ligand shares 81% and 78% aa sequence identity with mouse and rat Fas Ligand, respectively. Both mouse and human Fas Ligand are active on mouse and human cells (2, 3). Fas Ligand is expressed on the cell surface as a nondisulfide-linked homotrimer on activated CD4+ Th1 cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and NK cells (1). Fas Ligand binding to Fas/CD95 on an adjacent cell triggers apoptosis in the Fas‑expressing cell (2, 4). Fas Ligand also binds DcR3 which is a soluble decoy receptor that interferes with Fas Ligand-induced apoptosis (5). Fas Ligand can be released from the cell surface by metalloproteinases as a 26 kDa soluble molecule which remains trimeric (6, 7). Shed Fas Ligand retains the ability to bind Fas, although its ability to trigger apoptosis is dramatically reduced (6, 7). In the absence of TGF‑ beta, however, Fas Ligand/Fas interactions instead promote neutrophil-mediated inflammatory responses (3, 8). Fas Ligand itself transmits reverse signals that costimulate the proliferation of freshly antigen-stimulated T cells (9). Fas Ligand-induced apoptosis plays a central role in the development of immune tolerance and the maintance of immune privileged sites (10). This function is exploited by tumor cells which evade immune surveillance by upregulating Fas Ligand to kill tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (8, 11). In gld mice, a Fas Ligand point mutation is the cause of severe lymphoproliferation and systemic autoimmunity (12, 13).

References

Lettau, M. et al. (2008) Curr. Med. Chem. 15:1684.
Takahashi, T. et al. (1994) Int. Immunol. 6:1567.
Seino, K-I. et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161:4484.
Suda, T. et al. (1993) Cell 75:1169.
Pitti, R.M. et al. (1998) Nature 396:699.
Schneider, P. et al. (1998) J. Exp. Med. 187:1205.
Tanaka, M. et al. (1998) Nature Med. 4:31.
Chen, J-J. et al. (1998) Science 282:1714.
Suzuki, I. and P.J. Fink (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:1707.
Ferguson, T.A. and T.S. Griffith (2006) Immunol. Rev. 213:228.
Ryan, A.E. et al. (2005) Cancer Res. 65:9817.
Takahashi, T. et al. (1994) Cell 76:969.
Lynch, D.H. et al. (1994) Immunity 1:131.

Alternate Names

CD178, CD95L, FASLG, TNFSF6

Entrez Gene IDs

356 (Human); 14103 (Mouse); 25385 (Rat)

Gene Symbol

FASLG

UniProt

P48023

Additional Fas Ligand/TNFSF6 Products

Product Documents

Product Datasheets

Download Product Datasheets

COA

SDS

Download SDS

Product Specific Notices

This product is provided under an intellectual property license from Life Technologies Corporation. The transfer of this product is conditioned on the buyer using the purchased product solely in research conducted by the buyer, excluding contract research or any fee for service research, and the buyer must not (1) use this product or its components for (a) diagnostic, therapeutic or prophylactic purposes; (b) testing, analysis or screening services, or information in return for compensation on a per-test basis; or (c) manufacturing or quality assurance or quality control, and/or (2) sell or transfer this product or its components for resale, whether or not resold for use in research. For information on purchasing a license to this product for purposes other than as described above, contact Life Technologies Corporation, 5781 Van Allen Way, Carlsbad, CA 92008 USA or outlicensing@thermofisher.com.

For research use only

Citations
Reviews

Spectra Viewer
Flow Cytometry

Human Fas Ligand/TNFSF6 Alexa Fluor™ Plus 680-conjugated Antibody

R&D Systems, part of Bio-Techne | Catalog # FAB126AFP680

Key Product Details

Species Reactivity

Applications

Label

Antibody Source

View all Fas Ligand/TNFSF6 Antibodies »

Product Specifications

Specificity

Clonality

Host

Isotype

Applications

ELISA Capture (Matched Antibody Pair)

Flow Cytometry

Neutralization

Background: Fas Ligand/TNFSF6