TALL-1 is a novel member of the TNF family that is down-regulated by mitogens

Members of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family play important roles in modulation of immune responses. We describe the identification and cloning of a novel TNF family member that has been designated as TALL-I, TALL-1 is a 285-amino acid type II transmembrane protein. Its carboxy terminus shares similar to 35% sequence identity with the recently identified APRIL and similar to 20-25% with TNF, Fast, TRAIL, and lymphotoxin-alpha, suggesting that TALL-1 and APRIL belong to a subfamily of the TNF family of ligands. Northern blot analysis suggests that TALL-1 is expressed abundantly in peripheral blood leukocytes and weakly in spleen but is barely detectable in all other tissues examined, Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis indicates that TALL-1 is specifically expressed in monocytes and macrophages but is undetectable in T and B lymphocytes. Furthermore, TALL-1 expression is dramatically down-regulated by phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin.