| Modification Notes |
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a novel member of the hemopoietic cytokine family that promotes the development of B cells and shares overlapping activity with IL-7 (1,2). The gene encoding murine TSLP maps to chromosome 18 and its human homologue is expressed in several tissues, including heart, liver and prostate (1,3). TSLP mediates its function by binding to a receptor complex (2,4,5). TSLP first binds with low affinity to a TSLP-specific chain designated TSLPR, and then forms a high affinity complex with the IL-7Ra subunit, which explains the overlapping biological properties between TSLP and IL-7 (4,6). Both TSLP and IL-7 induce phosphorylation of the transcription factor Stat5, but unlike IL-7, TSLP-mediated signaling does not activate the JAKs (1,4,7). TSLP prevents apoptosis and stimulates the proliferation of myeloid cells, which is supported by the coexpression of TSLPR and IL-7Ra on monocytes and dendritic cells (1,4). |