Immune and stress physiology of two captively-housed tortoise species.

Ecoimmunology affords us the ability to better understand immunological processes through consideration of external factors, such as the thermal microenvironment. This consideration is imperative when examining the immunological processes of ectothermic organisms like reptiles. Reptiles uniquely rely heavily on their innate immune function but remain poorly understood in immunological studies.

TRUSS, a tumor necrosis factor receptor-1-interacting protein, activates c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase and transcription factor AP-1.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) induces the transcriptional activation of numerous genes involved in the inflammatory response. The recently identified protein TRUSS was investigated for its role in TNF-alpha-induced activation of c-Jun-NH(2) terminal kinase (JNK) and transcription factor, AP-1. Ectopic expression of TRUSS activated JNK and AP-1 in the absence and presence of TNF-alpha stimulation.

TRUSS, a novel tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 scaffolding protein that mediates activation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB.

We describe the cloning and characterization of tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R)-associated ubiquitous scaffolding and signaling protein (TRUSS), a novel TNF-R1-interacting protein of 90.7 kDa. TRUSS mRNA was ubiquitously expressed in mouse tissues but was enriched in heart, liver, and testis.